The backup force
by Darkmilenia
Summary: Ghost and Roach got saved after Shepherd had tried to burn them alive. After they have recovered from their injuries they get to know that they were not the only members of TF 141 which got saved. Their new General revealed that they got protected by his Secret Task Force and from time to time they got to meet the people which saved their lives.
1. Life or die

This story was in my mind for a few months and so i thought about writing it. It´s my first story so please tell me if you like it or not. Maybe my grammar isn´t the best but i tried to do my best

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As the flames continued to burn his entire body all the young sergeant could feel was incredible pain. He laid there and wanted to scream but he couldn´t make a sound. He knew that he was going to die and he never thought that it was because he was burnt alive. His thoughts drifted away to all of his teammates who had died before him and now it was his time to follow them to the never ending darkness. All of them died far away from home and no one have had a funeral, because there was no time. Their dead body's laid on the battlefield between the bodies of the enemies. In these foreign countries they were only nameless humans, like he was now, that he was dying.

He slowly closed his eyes and waited to die. A few seconds after he closed his eyes he felt no more pain and there was a tunnel of light right before him. This light was calming him down and he felt a warmness overcome him. Yes, this was the end of his life, he was sure. The light came closer and he was ready to leave this cold and hopeless world. He wondered if he was able to see all of his teammates who faded away not long ago.

But suddenly the light stopped before he was able to reach it and just a second later the light faded away and his body was moved. The burning pain came back and he felt pressure against his breastbone and someone gave him the kiss of life. He heard some voices but couldn´t understand what they were saying. He tried to open his eyes again but all he could see were outlines which he couldn´t define. He turned his head to the right and was sure to recognize the skull balaclava of his lieutenant.

He tried to reach the other man but he was cut off by the weakness in his body. So he decided to close his eyes again and fall asleep, knowing that the dead had to wait for him.


	2. I m alive

Okay so this chapter is longer than the first one and I hope you like it. Yeah what else can I say just read and tell me what you think.

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"Hey doc, he´s waking up." A female voice said. "Finally." A Male voice answered. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times. There was a bright light shining above him that made his eyes burn. "So hello! How your feeling?" questioned the male voice. Gary wanted to answer but all that came out of his throat sounded more like a whisper. "Oh you must be thirsty I forgot. Nurse, would you please let him drink some water?" The man ordered. Gary heard a door that has been opened and closed and just one minute later he saw a young girl leaning over him with a feeding cup in her hands. She lifted his head a little so he could drink a little bit. He made a few sips from the water, really slowly, because he felt very weak at the moment. He shook his head a little and the nurse took the cup away and laid him back.

"Better?" she asked with a smile and he nodded for response. The nurse stepped back and a new face came to his eyes and he assumed that the man must be the doctor. He was much older than Gary, maybe in his late 50´s, his hair was short and grey. He also wore eyeglasses which made him look well-educated. " So how your feeling?" the doctor asked again. "Weak." He replied quiet.

The doctor just nodded and continued. "Can you tell me who you are?" "Roach." "What?" the doctor asked in disbelief. " I thought the brain tests were ok, I think we should check this again, I mean why do you think you are a Roach? Your human and we should…." "Doctor!" the man was interrupted by the nurse. " His call sign in the military is Roach." She just said. "Is that so?" The doctor looked confused to Gary. "Yeah." Was all he said. "Ok, but can you tell me your real name?" "I am Gary Sanderson Sir." "Well and where are you from Mr. Sanderson?" "I´m from the United states. "Oh and his friend is from the UK?" the doctor asked the nurse. "Yes." Was all she replied.

Gary´s eyes grew wide. "My friend ? You mean Ghost right?" "Ghost?" the doctor raised an eyebrow; he once more doubted that Gary´s mental state was all right. " He means Mister Riley." The nurse chuckled lightly off the puzzled look on the doctor's face. "Let me guess his call sign?" She nodded in response. "Oh god. The military and their ridiculous call signs. That´s why he wore this skull balaclava when they were brought to us right?" The doctor asked. "No he got his name because he wears this balaclava." The nurse corrected. The doctor looked at her. "How do you now?" "Well I talk to the patients a lot that's why I am good in what I'm doing." She just said and gave Gary a smile.

" Ok well that's all I want to know at the moment. Do you have any questions Mr. Sanderson?" the doctor asked. Gary thought for a few seconds. "Can you tell me where I am?" was his first question. "Oh of course. You´re in a hospital in near Moscow." "And how do I got here?" "Some guys from the military brought you here along with your friend. You both have had really bad external combustions. We had to engraft skin to almost every part of your body. You could be happy that you're still alive. The first weeks you were more dead than alive and so we put you into artificial coma." The doctor explained with a serious look on his face. Gary closed his eyes and all the memories from the betrayal came back. The pain he felt when he was shot in his abdomen and the heat of the flames on his skin. His pulse rose and some medical machine beside him starts to make an alarming sound.

"You should rest now. You´re still in a bad mood and your recovery will take some time." The doctor explained. "We´re leaving if you need something there is the clock just push the red button and a nurse is coming to you." Gary looked to the side and nodded as he saw the clock. The doctor left and the nurse followed him.

* * *

Gary closed his eyes and tried to rest but his thoughts drifted to ghost. How was he doing? Is he fine? Who saved us? These where the questions Gary couldn´t get out of his mind. He had to ask the doctor or a nurse when they come back maybe they knew. He sighed. Why would anyone save them from burning alive? Has anyone known that Shepherd was a betrayer? Or did the snipers saved them? But why would they leave? He remembered that he heard Cpt. Price yell from the radio to not trust Shepherd maybe he sends some men to save them? Speaking of Price Gary wondered if he and MacTavish were still alive or did they die by the attack of Shepherd's men? Was Shepherd still alive and this Makarov guy, what was he doing? The doctor talked about the first few weeks, how long had they been here anyway? Maybe the war was already over. He was unable to find any answers to these questions and so he decided to not think about such stuff any longer and get some rest. Who knows what awaits him?

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There was a knock on the door. "Ghost?" the young nurse asked as she entered the room. "Yeah?" he got off the bed and walked towards the nurse. "Roach is awake I think he´s doing fine after a little rest. I just wanted to tell you." She said. Ghost smiled a little. "That´s good. Has he seen himself yet?" "No." "Well I hope he isn´t too shocked of his brand marks." Ghost looked down. "From what you told me about him I think he can handle." The nurse replied.

"I hope your right."


	3. Thoughts of a Ghost

**First of all I wanted to thank my followers and readers, I really hope you enjoy the story. Thanks to Frostbite for the short but nice review and as you wish here´s chapter 3.**

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Ghost was sitting in front of the hospital and was smoking a cigarette, looking down to the city, which was mostly undestroyed. 2 hours ago Julia (the nurse) told him that Gary was awake. He wouldn´t admit it but he was more than happy that Roach was getting better. He just wondered what would happen when Gary sees himself in a mirror. The first time Ghost looked into a mirror he wasn´t really shocked because he was used to the scar on his face and some brand marks on his face wouldn´t change a thing. But Gary´s face was faultless, almost very beautiful and attractive to many people. What would he feel when he looks in the mirror and sees how ruined his face was? Would he be able to face that he looked different now? Or would he end up like Ghost; hiding his appearance under a creepy mask so only close people could see his face? Ghost shook his head; why was he even thinking about such stuff. Roach was a strong person, stronger than he ever thought. He never cried no matter what pain he felt, physically and mentally. Ghost took one last drag on his cigarette and threw it away.

"You are going to catch a cold you know?" Ghost turned around and saw the doctor showing up behind him, he sighed. "Oh I think I got enough heat not long ago." He simply replied. "Mr. Riley! This isn´t funny. Why aren´t you glad that you're still alive?" the doctor asked. Ghost laughed. "I´m the happiest person on earth." The doctor rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say! I just think you should appreciate you´re not burnt to death. It´s like a miracle." "Oh yeah someone must really love me." Ghost replied cynically. "Mr. Riley I saw enough pain and people who don't want to die but you don´t have a choice. You must take it as it is. You´re the lucky one who survived." The doctor stated. "You call it luck? Look at me. Do I look like someone who should be happy that someone thought it would be my wish to survive when everyone else dies? I know a lot of people who had deserved to life on, people without a disturbing past I had." Ghost was getting angry at the doctors statement. He didn´t wait for a response from the medic in front of him. Ghost just turned around and went back to the hospital shaking his head of the stubbornness of his counterpart.

Ghost headed to his room and slammed the door. He went to the bathroom to take a relaxing shower and wanted to forget about this absurd conversation. He almost showered about half an hour without getting his mind free, he thought about the doctor's words. ´Lucky´ he smirked; nothing he went through was even half close to lucky. He preferred to call it hell. But how could this man know; his only interests were to get him and Roach out of this godforsaken place so he could go back to his family. Everyone in this place seems to hold a grudge against each other. The staff didn´t know that Ghost felt their dislike against all the patients they had to take care off but their behaviors were clear to him. Ghost heard them talk about their families back home and how excited they are to go back home and life a normal live. Only Julia never complained of being here or said that she wants to go back home to her family and friends.

Ghost got out of the shower and dried himself changing a look with his mirror image. He controlled his entire body; there were brand marks all over his chest and abdomen and a deep slowly healing bullet wound between his shoulder and his collarbone. ´Wanker! How did you become a general with such bad shooting skills? You could've killed me with just one shot but you failed. Idiot´ he coursed. After he got dressed he decided to go and take a look at Roach, to make sure he was doing fine.

* * *

He quickly arrived at Roaches room and opened the door silently. He stepped in and saw Roach still sleeping. He took a seat beside the bed and checked the young man. His face was pale and so the brand marks seemed to be more intensive then they actually were. He looked to Roach´s arms which where bandaged just as his legs were. He looked a little bit like a mummy. Ghost smiled; he must have looked almost the same when he was lying in bed. His eyes drifted to all the machines which were placed around the bed. There was one which recorded his vital functions, one for his oxygen-content and one for his heart sound. There were also several Infusions that supplied him with nutrients and liquid.

Ghost looked back to Gary and realized that his eyelids were moving. He got closer and whispered "Roach?" Gary slowly opened his eyes and looked around a bit confused. When he saw a well-known face he started to smile. "Ghost? You´re ok?" "Yeah I´m in one piece." He replied and smiled. Gary was so happy to see his friend and tried to pull him into a hug but was held back by a throbbing pain in his stomach. He let out a small whine and laid back to comfort himself. "Take it easy mate. You´re too weak for moving like you want." Ghost chuckled. "Yeah whatever you say." Gary pouted. Ghost just chuckled louder; the sergeants expression was too funny to take him serious. Gary shot him a killing glance and Ghosts chuckle died down. Ghost looked him straight in the eye and saw his questioning look. "What? You´re looking at me like I´m some alien." Gary looked down at his hands ashamed. Ghost craped his hand and Gary looked up again. "What´s the matter Roach?" he asked seriously. Roach took a deep breath. "Your face… "Now it was Ghost who looked away. " I know." "Couldn´t they fix it. I mean the brand marks." "No, they tried but it doesn´t work." Ghost smiled slightly. "What about me? Is my face ok?" Gary asked. Ghost´s eye widened. He didn´t know what to say. Gary noticed the fear in his lieutenant's eyes; his heart beats faster. "Ghost? Tell me is my face all right?" "Gary…I.." Ghost couldn´t find the right words. Fear grew up in Gary. What was wrong with his face? "Hand me a mirror." He demanded. "But…" "No, give me a mirror. I want to see my face." Gary began to scream. Ghost knew there was no way he could change his mind. He got up from his chair, walked to the nightstand and took the hand mirror. He walked back to his friend and handed it to him. Gary slowly raised the mirror and looked into it.

What he saw wasn´t what he expected…


	4. You can t always get what you want

First of all i wanted to thank you for your reviews. It´s good to know you like the story so far.

Lisbet Adair i really appreciate your tips and I tried to change the things you told me. So I hope it´s easierer to read now.

And now enjoy chapter 4

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´Freak`, that's what Gary thought about himself. His mirror image was much worse than he thought it would be. He had several burn marks on both sides of his cheeks and his whole chin was covered with one. He also had several bruises all over his face. The only parts on his face which weren´t damaged were his eyes. He stared into the mirror and couldn´t find a word.

He wanted to scream or cry or something like that, to feel better, but he had learnt that letting go off emotions wouldn´t fix any problems. He swallowed hard and laid the mirror down on his lap. He closed his eyes and wished when he opened them again he wouldn´t be here. At the moment he even prefers to be on the battlefield and fighting against some enemies, instead of lying in this bed in a hospital near Moscow. He actually wished he had died in the flames.

"Roach! Hey Roach are you ok?" Gary felt someone shaking him lightly.

"Yeah, I´m fine." He whispered.

Gary opened his eyes and saw Ghost leaning over him with a sorrowful expression on his face. It was when he realized the machines ring the alarm. It was an annoying sound and Gary wanted them to stop.

"Can't we remove these things?" he asked angrily.

"I don´t know. It's the doctors´ choice." Ghost answered.

"Can you look for him?"

"Yes, but I think I should stay with you. You don´t look good."

"I´m fine, believe me. Please go get him!"

Ghost just nodded and left Gary to find the medic. Gary watched his friend leave the room and with a sigh he lifted the mirror once more, only to see his disfigured appearance. He didn´t know how long he was staring into the mirror but to him it seems like ages. No matter how long it lasted he couldn´t get used to his image. Maybe he just needed time to accept how he was looking now.

Gary shook his head.

`I will never be able to accept "what" I am now. How can I?

I almost needed a year to accept how Ghost looks without his mask.

I mean he´s one of my best friends but I couldn´t look him in the face when he wasn´t wearing his mask.

The first time I saw him without I got really scared.

I even had nightmares about him; and sometimes I still have them.

Oh god what am I thinking? I´m a terrible friend, he´d never think about me in such a miserable way.

Besides I´m a soldier, I saw so much pain and it didn´t bother me at all. So why am I scared of my own face? `

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard footsteps coming close to his room. He looked back from the ceiling and to the door. It opened and the doctor came in, followed by Ghost.

"I think we can remove the machines but you still need the infusions." The doctor explained whilst he turned the machines off.

"Your vital functions are really good but you have to stay in bed for another week or two before we can start with your physiotherapy."

"Physiotherapy?" Gary wondered.

"Well you were bond to the bed a very long time and your muscles have to recover. Besides we can´t remove the bandages yet."

"I´ve been through that already and believe me Gary it´s the best thing to recover quickly and get back to full power." Ghost explained.

"Ok." Was all Gary replied.

The doctor changed a look with both man and left the room without saying another word.

"I want to rest some more please." Gary said to Ghost.

"As you wish but if you need something just ring the alarm ok?"

Gary just nodded and Ghost left again, leaving his friend alone.

`Lucky me. Two more weeks in this bed without doing anything then thinking about my new look. This is going to be better every hour. ` Gary sighed heavily and stared at the ceiling once more.

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Ghost slowly went down the corridor of the almost empty hospital, thinking about Gary's look as he saw himself in the mirror. He knew that his friend was shocked and tried to hide it, but he could see the dislike in his eyes. It was the same expression he saw in people's eyes when they got to see his face for the first time; when Gary saw his face the first time. Ghost never talked about it, but back then, he saw that Gary was scared of him. He couldn´t blame him because he knows how frightened his scar is.

He couldn´t get over the shocked faces and so he decided to wear his skull-balaclava; thinking that the people weren´t too afraid of his face when he took it off. But he was wrong, the looks never changed and so his balaclava became his new face. At that time he created his call sign – Ghost. Nobody would miss him; nobody would recognize him, because Ghosts don't exist in the world.

He shook his head. He swore to himself that no one, except the Members of the 141, would ever see his face; if only he had known that his balaclava would be half destroyed by the flames and the people here had to deal with his real look. They shot him all the inhuman glances he never wanted to see.

"You can´t always get what you want." He hated this phrase even if it was true.


	5. End of War

**I´m sorry for not updating in over a month but work and School really kept me busy. I also had to rewrite this chapter a few times and I´m still not happy with it but I think it´s ok. And now enjoy reading and tell me what you think. I´m sorry for bad grammar. **

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**3 weeks later…**

One week has passed since Gary could leave the bed and start with the physiotherapy. The first two days were really hard for him because he could barely stand and every step he made caused a lot of pain in his shaking legs. He couldn´t even walk from his bed to the bathroom without the help of Ian, his physiotherapist. Gary never liked it to count on others, accept on the battlefield, but he had no choice than grab the hands of the young man and hold it like a little baby who makes his first steps. He was really happy that he didn´t need any more help on the third day and now seven days later he was able to walk wherever he wanted to go. But he wouldn´t leave the hospital because at one hand he was too afraid that the people could stare at him and on the other hand he was in enemy's territory.

The look in the mirror, wasn´t as bad as three weeks ago but he yet couldn´t deal with his new look. Of course the bruises faded away but the burn marks still covered his face and they wouldn´t go away just like that. Gary often just closed his eyes and imagined he was back at base with all members of the 141 and everything would be ok. Even if he knows that the 141 didn´t existed any longer he hoped that he got a chance to see some of his former teammates again.

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It was about noon and Gary walked through the corridors of the mostly empty hospital to eat lunch as he heard a familiar voice from inside the recreation room and so he decided to grab his lunch in the kitchen and eat in this room. He opened the door and saw Ghost sitting in front of the TV, with his own food in front of him and the young nurse besides him. Gary walked over to the couch and sat down.

"Hey." Ghost greeted him without turning his eyes off the TV.

"Hi." Gary replied as he began to have his lunch.

He ate half of his meal when he recognized Ghost wasn´t touching his meal and kept staring at the screen. He turned his gaze away from Ghost and tried to follow the report on the TV. He couldn´t understand anything, ´cause the reporter was speaking in Russian. The report on the screen showed a destroyed building, which looked like a high class hotel. There was a sign in front of the building with the word "Oasis" on it. He also saw a lot of police man in front of the building who interviewed some civilians or took pictures of the scene.

Gary turned his gaze off the screen to eat something more when he heard Ghost mumbling something. Gary laid his fork down and looked back on the screen. Some police men brought someone out of the building with hand cuffs on. Gary at first couldn´t see the face of the figure they were bringing out but at the second look he realized that he knew the uniform of the man. He became nervous and as the man looked straight into the camera he couldn´t believe his eyes. There captured by some police men stood Captain Price and looked into the camera with a little smile on his face before they pulled him in the police car. After that the screen changed and they showed pictures of Captain Price and some other guy who Gary didn´t knew.

"What happened there?" Gary asked in disbelief.

"They say someone Captain Price and a Russian called Yuri entered the hotel and killed Makarov." The nurse answered him.

"But why do they capture him? He hasn´t done anything wrong. He just tried to stop the War." Gary replied angrily.

"No." Ghost just said and looked Gary in the eyes.

"What do you mean? He tried to stop the War."

Ghost shook his head lightly.

"He couldn´t stop the War by killing Makarov because the War ended three months ago." He explained to his friend.

Gary´s eyes grew wide.

"What do you mean? The War´s already over? Why didn´t you tell me?"

"Roach! Listen! We all thought it would be the best for you to not know because you should recover and not think about what to do now that the War is over."

"What? That´s ridiculous Ghost. Why should it be bad for my recovery if I knew the War is already over?"

"So. What are you gonna do now?" Ghost asked him staring into his eyes.

"What I am gonna do?" Gary repeated and Ghost nodded.

Gary looked down on his shaking hands.

"I don´t know." He whispered.

"See? Gary I don´t mean to bother you but when you´re back at full power you should go home. It´s the best for you to get your mind free."

"Home?" Gary shook his head.

"No, I can´t go home."

"Why?" Ghost asked in a soft tone.

"Why? Ghost serious? Are you going home?" Gary raised his voice a little louder than he intended.

Now it was Ghost who´s eyes grew wider. He got a little bit angry on Gary´s statement.

" You know that I don´t have a home do you? So no, I´m not going home."

"Neither I am. I stay with you no matter what."

"Stop saying such stupid things Roach." Ghost got up and screamed at Roach.

"It´s the best for you to return to the states. You have a family there Roach. I´m sure your parents would die if you´re not coming back home. So stop dreaming and come back to reality."

"You don´t know what´s the best for me. I won´t go back home, I stay with you, you´re my family and we both are members of the best task force of the world and I don´t want to change this." Roach rose up from the couch and stood in front of Ghost, inches away from his face.

"Don´t be stupid. The 141 doesn´t exists any longer. Why won´t you go back home?" Ghost screamed.

"I´m sure my parents' don´t want me with them." Gary stated sadly.

"Please, don´t tell me you say that because you feel uncomfortable of your face."

Gary didn´t response. He just looked down on his feet.

"Oh Roach. You´re such an idiot." Ghost cursed.

"Shut up! You know nothing. You´re used to scare other people but I don´t want to be like a monster."

"Oh that´s what you think about me? I´m like a monster to you? And I thought you were my friend."

"Ghost… I´m…." Gary started to apologize.

"No, don´t say you´re sorry, because I know you´re not." Ghost cut him off midsentence.

"Hey Guys, stop fighting." The both men turned to look at the nurse, she stood beside them and looked at them with a sad expression on her face.

Ghost and Roach looked away ashamed and mumbled something that could be count as an apology. The nurse let out a little groan and shook her head slightly with a little smile on her face.

"Come on." She said and walked past them. As she reached the door she turned around and looked at the two men who didn´t know what to do.

" Take your jackets and meet me at the back entrance. I think a walk would be good for both of you." With this statement she turned the doorknob and left the two soldiers alone in the room. Ghost was the first to act, he patted Roach on the back and both left the room to put their jackets on.

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Yeah, that´s it. I hope it was ok and I try to continue the Story as fast as possible.


	6. Walking in the snow

Chapter 6 is up. Thanks to all the Readers and thanks to frostbite for the Review. In this chapter I introduce two OC´s and I hope you like it and at the same time it should be the last chapter that´s just about Ghost and Roach. Well have fun while you´re reading this and tell me what you think.

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As Roach and Ghost reached the back entrance Julia, the nurse, and Ian, the physiotherapist, were already waiting for them.

" Are you dressed warm enough?" Ian asked

"Yeah I guess so." Gary replied.

"Good, then we can go outside."

"Wait!" Gary interrupted Ian who was about to open the door.

"What is it Mr. Sanderson?" he asked.

"For what do we need this?" Gary pointed on the wheelchair Ian had with him.

" Oh I thought if you´re not able to walk anymore we could use this to bring you back here." Ian answered with a mischievous smile.

" Whoa I don´t think we need this." Gary defended himself.

" We´ll see." Ian just said and opened the door.

A cold breeze streamed immediately in the faces of the four people in front of the door. It wasn´t unusual due to the fact it was January and they were in Russia where the winters were really cold. They stepped outside and were blended by the bright light of the sun which was reflected by the snow that covered the ground. They all had to blink a few times till their eyes got used to the brightness outside.

Rubbing his hands of the cold Gary started to follow the others on their way away from the hospital. Till now he never left the huge building and an hour ago he never thought of leaving it ever, but now there he was with three other people around him, taking his first steps into the outskirts of this foreign country. He looked back and for the first time he realized that the hospital really looked old. It looked almost like a forgotten place. Around the hospital were no other buildings and the walls were destroyed in some places. He also saw an old playing field with a huge whole in the middle. From the back the hospital looked more like an old jail than a hospital.

* * *

"What are you staring at?" Gary turned around and faced Julia.

"Nothing, It´s just I never saw it from the outside." Gary replied quickly.

"Disappointing."

"Excuse me?"

"It´s disappointing, isn´t it? I guess you expected a better view."

"No it´s just it doesn´t look like a hospital. I assumed a hospital is in the middle of a city so everyone could reach it quickly if they have an emergency. But here´s nothing around." Gary explained and started walking slowly.

"I know what you mean. The reason why this hospital is not in the middle of the city is that a few years ago it was an asylum."

"Really?"

"Yes, but when the War started they made it to a hospital for wounded soldiers."

" That explains some things. I always wondered why there are no more patients left."

"Well only you and Ghost are left."

" See we have all the doctors and nurses for our own." Ghost joined the conversation as all four walked in a line.

"But why is she the only nurse I saw the last few days?" Gary asked pointing on Julia.

"Hey, I have a name." she replied smiling.

"Sorry."

"Come on it´s ok. At least you don´t think I´m a guy." She stated looking at Ghost.

"I told you I´m sorry." Ghost defended himself.

Gary just stared at them both and didn´t know what they were talking about.

"Before you ask." Ian started.

"The first time Ghost saw her he thought that she´s a man and her name is Julian not Julia."

"No, you´re kidding me." Gary asked with eyes wide open.

"No, it´s the truth." Ghost admitted.

"And I apologized a hundred times for this mistake."

"Yes you do but I like it to annoy you with telling everyone about your mistake." Julia said with a smile.

"You´re not mad?" Gary asked.

"Mad? No. He wasn´t the first and won't be the last who thinks I´m a boy. I mean without any make up and in my working clothes I do really look rather boyish."

Gary smiled at her and for the first time he took a long look at the nurse. She had really short brown hair, was about 5´5 tall and had blue eyes. And her female attributes, let´s say she didn´t need much to hide them. Gary must admit that someone who doesn´t know that she´s a girl really could think she was a boy.

"Hey Roach! Stop day dreaming." Ghost waved his hand in front of Gary's´ eyes.

"Oh sorry."

"What were you thinking about?"

"N-Nothing." Gary stumbled.

"I bet he just thought that I look like a boy." Julia spoke up.

"What? No I…"

"It´s ok, as I said I´m used to it and my boyfriend never cared about my look." She simply said and smiled at Gary.

"You have a boyfriend? Why didn´t you tell me?" Ghost asked a little shocked.

"You never asked and right now I have no boyfriend."

"Did you break up with him?" now it was Gary, who asked.

"No, none of us broke up."

"What happened then?"

"He was in the army and on a mission in 2011 he died."

"Oh, I´m sorry."

"There is no need to be sorry. How could you know?"

Gary nodded but avoided to look into her eyes, he thought he had crossed a line.

"So you met in the army?" Ghost asked very interested.

Julia shook her head.

"No, we met when we were teenagers. I was 15 and he was 17. I joined the army after his dead, if he hadn´t died I would still work in a normal hospital back home, or maybe I wouldn´t even live right now."

"Why do you think that?"

"My whole family died. They got killed during the war and if I would have been back home I´m sure I would have died with them."

Julia looked into Ghost´s eyes with a tortured smile on her face. Ghost felt very uncomfortable right now. He could slap himself for being so rude and ask this kind of private stuff. He only stared back and wanted to say something but he couldn´t find the right words. He knew exactly how she must feel; he lost all of his family too. But somehow he knew she was luckier than him because she didn´t see the dead bodies of her family members.

* * *

How he knew that? A few weeks ago Julia told him that she wasn´t at home for six years. As a nurse in the military she had to travel a lot and was not longer than half a year at one place. He also knew that when the hospital closed she had to look for a new place to work, ´cause the military of her home country didn´t renew her contract.

"When the hospital closes you´re going back to your country?" Gary asked cause he wanted to know what she was doing after all that.

"I don´t know it right now. I mean there´s nowhere I could go instead and if my family would be still alive I had no doubts of going back home, but in my situation I don´t know to whom I should go."

"That´s sad."

"Yes it is. That´s why I don´t understand why you don´t want go back home to your family. I personally think it´s ridiculous you don´t want go back because your look changed. I mean it´s your family; they will love you no matter what."

Deep inside Gary knew that she was right but right now he didn´t admit it. Of course he would visit his family. Someday. But he still needed time to get along with his new look and wouldn´t go back till he could handle it by himself. He sighted heavily and shared a look with Ghost who looked at him with an expression that said "I told you the same thing." Gary wanted to say something to both of them when Ian announced they should go back ´cause it was getting dark soon.

* * *

They made their way back as Roach realized his legs began to hurt. He didn´t want to show his weakness but after five more minutes the pain grew heavier and without saying a word he sat down in the wheelchair. Ian who was still pushing it just shook his head and started to carry Roach back to the hospital.

They had almost reached the building as the wheelchair stuck in the snow and Gary was falling face first in the snow. First all of them stood or in Roachs´case laid there in silenced, before the three standing couldn´t hold back heartbreaking laughter. They were laughing so much that none of them even thought about helping Roach up and so he had to stand up all by himself. As he stood and realized they were still laughing he crouched down on the ground and made a snowball which he threw in the face of his best friend.

Now it was Gary who couldn´t hold back some giggles because Ghost stared at him with eyes wide open and Snow all over his face. Roach closed his eyes and took in a deep breath as he felt something wet and cold in his face. He opened one eye and saw Ian, still in the snowball throwing position, with an Arm stretched out in Gary´s direction. Gary acted as quick as he could and threw a snowball in Ian´s direction but if Ian had known his intend he grabbed Julia by the arm and dragged her in front of him.

"Oh that´s cold." Julia screamed as she felt the snowball in her face, she turned around and shot Ian a killing glance. Ian just smiled innocently and raised his hand in defense but that was no reason for Julia to let it be and a few seconds later Ian's´ face was also covered with snow. He mumbled silent and without saying one more word he took the wheelchair and started walking again.

He didn´t make it far as another snowball hit his back. Ian breathed deep in and out and within a second he turned around, ran back and tackled Ghost, who had thrown the snowball to the ground, starting a snowball fight with him. Gary and Julia both shook their heads, took the wheelchair which was lying on the ground and entered the hospital.

They were about to close the door as they heard Ian and Ghost scream they should wait. Julia rolled her eyes and held the door open for them. They decided to shower and meet again in the recreation room to spend some time in each other's company.


	7. Price

**January 22nd 2017**

**Abu Dhabi police department**

**Arabian Peninsula**

He felt dirty and wanted to take a shower but there was none….

He felt tired and wanted to sleep but there was no bed….

He was hungry but there was nothing to eat….

But besides all this feelings he felt satisfied. He got his revenge and now the world would be a better place to live without that bastard, who killed his friend.

Friend?

No, that wasn´t the right word. He was more than that. He was his comrade for so long time. He was really more than a friend, he was more like the son he never had. The son who died in front of him, in his own hands and he couldn´t do anything than to let him go and share some tears for him.

He couldn´t understand why he had to die. He was young and had his whole life to live. Not like him, he was older, he had a daughter and a wife. He had something in life worth dying for. Even if he knew that his family thought he died five years ago. That´s why he should have been the one dying in battle, not him.

When you got your revenge and the battles are fought what´s the reason to life on?

This question was in his mind since he killed Makarov. What´s the big plan for him in this world? To end up in jail only ´cause he did the right thing? To be forgotten by everyone he cared of? To be marked as a traitor? A man who betrayed his country?

He wouldn´t have a problem with that if that´s what really happened. At the same time he hoped that someone, anyone would come and take him out of this, take him back home and everything's all right.

Lost in his thoughts he didn´t recognize the sound of an opening door and someone coming in.

A file was thrown on the table in front of him and only now he snapped out of his dreams and looked up into the brown eyes of an Arabian police officer. The man gestured him to open the file and so he did. In it were some pictures. The first one showed him with Soap and Ghost, the second one him and Yuri and the last one was a picture of Makarovs dead body.

"What where you doing in the hotel?" the officer asked and took a seat across from him.

"What do you thing? I was on vacation!" was his angry answer.

"Don´t play games with me. We know everything. You are Captain John Price, Member of Task Force 141 and your destination was to kill Makarov." The officer replied angrily.

"Why do you ask if you know the answer already?" Price asked amused.

The officer didn´t answer and started to ask some more questions.

"Where´s the rest of your Task Force?"

"Dead."

"All of them?"

"I guess so."

"What happened?"

"Why´d you care?"

"Just answer me."

"A lot of us died in battle and the rest was betrayed by our General."

"General Sheperd?"

Price just nodded.

"I heard of him. They found his dead body, he was stabbed in the eye and died immediately. My question is who did this?"

"It was me."

"Really?" the officer got skeptical.

"Of course. Why should I lie?"

"Well then tell me why I have the information that this was Cpt. MacTavish?"

"Who said that?" Price got nervous.

"That´s not important. But from your reaction I can see that this is the truth." The officer snuffled, stood up from his chair and leaned over to Price.

"It´s better for you to tell me the truth or you will spend the rest of your life behind a prison cell." The officer took a seat again and looked expectant.

Price let out a deep breath.

"Yes, it was Soap, he stabbed Sheperd and killed him."

"Ok and what happened to MacTavish or Soap?"

"He died."

"Where?"

"In Prague. We tried to set a trap for Makarov but he knew we were there and Soap got killed."

"Ok and what happened then?"

"Yuri and I were looking for Makarov in an old castle where he had a secret place to hide but he wasn´t there and all we could do was to destroy some of his weapons and kill some of his man. After that we lost the track on Makarov and could find him months later in this hotel."

"You knew the war was already over didn´t you?"

"Of course we knew but I wanted revenge."

"Revenge? For what?"

"For all the soldiers which died in the war. Makarov was the manipulator of the whole war and he had to pay."

"So you did this not for yourself? Didn´t it satisfied you to watch him die?"

"What do you expect from me? Of course I´m satisfied. He deserved to die."

"And you were aware of the consequences of what you were doing? You can handle that a soldier died because of your selfish act?"

"Yuri knew what he was in to."

"That´s your excuse?"

"It´s not an excuse. It´s just the way things are."

"I never met a man who´s as cold-hearted as you."

"Have you ever lost someone you love?"

"Yes I have."

"Then you know how I really feel." Price said seriously.

The officer just stared in his eyes. Maybe this man wasn´t the bad ass bastard he thought he would be. Maybe there was a chance that he only was a victim of confusion. He seemed to tell the truth about what happened. His Informant could be right with his speculation that he just tried to do what´s needed to bring peace to this world again. He had pity with him. In some way this man was a rareness in mankind. If he were in his position maybe he would have done the same. He wanted to say something but he couldn´t find the right words.

He wanted to apologize but he didn´t know for what. He just did his job. Everyone else in his position would do the same. Besides all the good intents the man in front of him had he still had killed a man. Self-revenge was a crime and so the Cpt. was a criminal and criminals needed to be convicted for what they have done.

"Do you have a family?" the policeman asked out of the sudden.

Price looked surprised and just nodded.

"Do you want to call them and tell them what´s going on?"

Price just shook his head. He knew his family thought he died long ago and he wanted to keep it this way. But then he remembered the TV report and that his family might had seen it. Should he call them and tell he was alive? His wife would be really obsessed if she saw him on TV and he didn´t give her a call. But if she hadn´t seen it and he would call she might get a heart attack if she heard his voice. He was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. He just wanted to answer as he heard a voice over some speakers which told the officer someone was here to talk to him.

The officer shot Price one more glance, got up from his chair and left the room.

* * *

Alone again in silence Price started to remember a conversation he had with Soap not long before he died.

_"You should give them a call." Soap started out of the sudden as they were on the way to prague._

_Price looked up from his journal he had in his hands and looked at his friend._

_"Who do you mean?" he asked and shifted himself left in his passenger seat to look at the young man, who was driving the car._

_"You´re family. You should tell them what´s happened and that you´re fine." Soap answered not turning his gaze away from the street._

_Price smiled, pulled his hat in front of his eyes and closed them._

_"I don´t think that´s an good idea." He answered calmly._

_"Why not? They have a right to know." Soap didn't understand the stubbornness of his former friend._

_"It´s good like it is. Why should I wake sleeping dogs? It wouldn't change anything."_

_"But…"_

_"No." Soap was interrupted._

_"My wife did know what she was in to when we got married. She knew that someday I won´t come back. It´s better to let her believe I lost my life in battle."_

_Soap wanted to say something more but he stayed silenced. Price was a grown up man. He knew what was best for him. Soap only thought if he would have a family back home he would call them immediately if anything happens._

_"Fine. If you don´t want to tell them I don´t force you to do it." Soap just said and their conversation was over._

* * *

Fool!

Price thought to himself. If he could turn back time he would have called his family back then. He would have told them he was fine and he was coming back. Price shook his head. It wasn´t to late to call his wife. Maybe he would do it after all that but at the same time he was pretty sure he was going to spend the rest of his life caged.

He let out a deep breath. It felt like hours since the officer was gone. He wondered to whom he was speaking out there. The man who called him out sounded very nervous. It must be important.

Just a few seconds later he heard the door open and looked at it. The officer came back to the room and Price thought to see a little smile on his face.

"It seems like it´s you´re lucky day Captain. Someone´s here to bring you back home." The officer told him.

"Who is it?" Price asked astonished

The officer stepped aside and a man Price knew very well came in. He shot up from his chair and looked confused at the man.

"I´m glad to see you son. Come on it´s time to go." The man said and Price stood there with his mouth wide open.


	8. Out of the Hospital

**22nd January 2017**

**Russian Hospital**

**Moscow, Russia**

Gary was the first person which entered the recreation room after his shower. He walked over to the couch and took a seat in the middle of it. Unsure when the others were coming he decided to switch on the TV. He grabbed the remote and pushed the on button. He heard a buzzing noise and seconds later he watched a Russian TV-Show. He didn´t understand anything but he believed it was a political show where they talked about the reconstruction of the destroyed cities. In matter of fact he didn´t speak this language he zapped through the television transmitters till he found a music show where they transmitted American music. He laid the remote aside and closed his eyes to relax a bit. With the sound of the music in the background he starts to think about his life back home.

Before he decided to join the army he intended to become a famous soccer player after school. He was always good in this kind of sport. He liked it to be part of a team that needed to work together to get to their goal. But as his best friend was killed he decided to become a soldier. He wanted to save the people he cared about.

Thinking about him he couldn´t avoid the sad feeling overcoming him. He remembered the day his whole life changed.

_It was on a warm September day five years ago. He and his best friend wanted to watch a game of their favorite soccer team. They had bought the tickets for it long ago but at the day of the game Gary didn´t feel well and so he had to stay home and watch the game on TV. His best friend instead was in the stadium. Excited if Gary would see his friend on Television, he sat in front of the screen. In the first half time everything went well and his team got 2 scores and the other team none. In the break Gary left his spot in front of the screen to go on the toilette and only two minutes later as he came back he couldn´t believe his eyes. He saw a massive explosion there in the stadium. The screen went black for a moment and then it switched into the commercial break. Unsure what happened he tried to reach his best friend on his mobile phone. It rang like a hundred times but no one answered the phone. Gary got really nervous and wished that it wasn´t real. He waited what seems to him like hours till the screen switched to a news show. They said a terrorist was there in the stadium and blew up a bomb. They couldn´t tell by now how many people lost their lives but Gary knew his best friend was one of them._

_And he was right his best friend was gone. He remembered the funeral very well. How will he ever forgot it? All of his former classmates were there and everyone was crying and couldn´t understand why he had to die. Gary himself felt guilty. He should have been with him. He should be killed in there with his friend. He couldn´t stand the helplessness he felt right now and only a week after he joined the army. He wanted to stop all the bad guys out there. He didn´t wanted that someone else loses his or her best friend. His mum was sad back then and he knew she will never forgive him but this the only chance he saw to make peace with himself._

* * *

As he heard some footsteps coming closer, he opened his eyes and tried to forget what he was thinking about.

"Hey Roach! You´re here already?" Ghost asked and sat down next to him.

"Yes, I´m here since ten minutes. What were you doing so long? You smell like you´re going on a date or something." Gary answered and wrinkled his nose; Ghost definitely wore too much after shave.

"Hey, I smell good don´t I?" Ghost asked with big eyes.

"No, it´s way too much." Gary answered amused.

"Besides I always thought you don´t care how you smell. Sometimes you didn´t take a shower for almost a week."

"Why should I smell good in a military base?"

"Oh, there is the rub." Gary showed a big smile.

"I don´t know what you mean." Ghost stated innocently.

"You do it for her!"

"For who?"

"Julia. You like her."

"What? No, that´s not true."

"Really not? I saw how you looked at her earlier that day, you never looked at someone like that."

"That´s only because you never saw me around any women don´t you?"

"Well, that´s true so why do you were it? For Ian?"

"What? You´re out of your mind." Ghost screamed.

"Maybe." Gary answered giggling.

"But maybe I just have a sense for that kind of stuff."

"For what kind of stuff?" The both men turned their heads to look at Ian and Julia who had just arrived at the recreation room.

"Oh we just talked about some military stuff. Nothing special." Gary answered rident.

"Ok. So what are we gonna do now?" Ian asked as he walked to a shelf with board games in it.

"We could play ludo if you want." Julia answered and Ghost and Roach nodded in response.

All four took a seat at the table that was standing in the middle of the room and began to play. The played a couple of hours, talking about what they have done before the war and eating something for dinner. It was eleven o´clock in the evening as the doctor came to the recreation room with a bright smile on his face.

"Good evening everyone." He greeted.

"Evening." They answered.

"You´re having fun I see. It´s good to know you get along with each other and that you have settled down. I have two news for you. The first is tomorrow you´re allow to leave the hospital and the second one is that a General from the British Military called, he´s coming to get you tomorrow morning." The doctor explained.

"What General?" Ghost and Roach asked at the same time.

"His name was MacMillian I guess. He said he´d come to take you back to your base."

"Our base? I thought General Sheperd destroyed it." Ghost asked.

"I can only tell you what he told me, you should rest now, he is going to arrive in the early morning. Julia, Ian, we need to talk what we do after we close the hospital. You should come with me to my office."

As the doctor spoke these word Ian and Julia got up and followed him out of the room. Ghost and Gary sat there and looked at each other surprised.

"Do you know anything about this MacMillian?" Gary asked.

"I´ve heard his name once or twice. I think Tavish was talking about him but I can´t remember that he was a General."

"Maybe he got promoted."

"Yes, maybe. Come on Gary, we should do what the doctor said and go to sleep." Ghost stood up.

"You´re right. At least we don´t have anything to pack." Gary smiled a little and both of them made their way to their bedroom.

* * *

At 4 o´clock in the morning the night was over and Roach and Ghost were ready to be picked up. The doctor had told them he got a call that the General would arrive round about half past four and so the two waited inside the hospital, excited what the Generals plans were.

"Hey guys, you´re all right?" they heard Ian's voice behind them and turned around to face him.

"Well, were a little bit excited but it´s okay. Why are you up so early?" Gary asked.

"Oh I´m leaving today too. My transport is going to be here in ten minutes." Ian answered and leant against a wall.

"So you´re going back home?"

"Yes, I´m going back to Ireland."

"Wow, that´s cool and what about Julia?" Ghost asked.

Ian just shrugged his shoulders.

"I don´t know. She said she wanted to visit a friend but I don´t know where this friend lives, I only know she is going by plane."

"Is she awake?" Ghost continued to ask.

"Yes, I saw her in the kitchen five minutes ago."

"Roach, I´m back soon." Ghost told his friend and left him and Ian alone in the lobby.

Ghost didn´t need to go all the way to the kitchen ´cause Julia was coming his way, carrying all of her luggage.

"Let me help you." Ghost said and took one of Julia´s suitcases.

"Thanks, they´re way too heavy to carry them all." Julia smiled a little.

"I´m glad you haven´t left yet. I wanted to say bye to you all. Is Ian still here?" she asked.

"Yes, he´s in the lobby, waiting for his transport to Ireland. He said you are going to visit a friend?"

"Yes, that´s right."

"Where does this friend life? Maybe we meet if we have a few days off."

"I don´t think this will work. My friend lives in the USA and your base is in England right?"

"Oh yeah, that´s difficult. So does this mean this is a goodbye forever?" Ghost asked visible disappointed.

"I don´t think so. You know what they say, you always meet twice in life." Julia answered, patting him on the shoulder.

"You´re right but there´s something I wanted to tell you before we leave." Ghost stopped and faced her.

"Oh, what is it?" Julia asked curios.

"Well I don´t know how to start…"

Of course Ghost knew what he wanted to say. Yesterday as he laid in his bed he was thinking about what Roach said. Did he really like her? Sure he did. She was there for him since the first day he awoke. She was always nice to him and didn´t judge him only he had this big scar on his face. But did he love her? He wasn´t sure, he cared about her and liked to be with her but he didn´t have the infamous butterflies you have when you´re in love with someone.

"Ghost? Are you okay?"

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard her voice.

"Yes, I´m fine." He stumbled.

"So, what do you want to say?"

"Oh, I….I just wanted to tell you that…. I wanted to thank you that you were there for me and Roach."

"You don´t have to thank me for that. I just did my job."

"I know, but I also wanted to tell you that I…..I…. God…I really like you, as a friend, and I´m gonna miss you."

"I like you too, as a friend and of course I´m gonna miss you."

They looked at each other and smiled.

"Hey Ghost hurry up. The chopper´s here." Gary screamed in their direction.

"Ok, I´m on my way." Ghost jelled back and he and Julia started to walk to the lobby.

As they got there the General stepped out of the chopper and came in the lobby.

"Mr. Sanderson, Mr. Riley?" MacMillian asked.

"Yes sir!" both of them said and saluted him.

"I´m General MacMillian and I´m here to take you back to base. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, one moment please." Gary answered and quickly he gave Ian and Julia a hug, before he walked towards the chopper.

The General shot Ian and Julia a glance, turned around and followed Gary to the Chopper.

"It´s time to go now." Ian said to Ghost and shook his hand. Ghost smiled at him and then turned around to Julia and took her hand to shake it. Julia took his hand, smiled and pulled Ghost into a hug.

"Be careful and don´t forget us ok?" Julia said and looked him in the eyes.

Ghost smiled a little, nodded and went outside to board the chopper. He turned around one more time and saw Julia and Ian wave. He waved back and closed the door behind him. He turned his head to the side and saw a surprised expression on his friend.

"Roach? What is it?" he asked but Roach didn´t answer.

"Good to see you again lads."

Ghost´s eyes grew wide. He knew that voice. He turned his gaze away from his friend into the direction the voice came from.

There in this chopper with him, Roach and the General he was.

**Price.**


	9. Reunion

A big thank you to all of you who follow, favorite and read this story. I hope you still like it and enjoy reading. I know I haven´t updated for months but I was really busy. I´m gonna try to update regular now. I would love to know what you think of the story so far and if you have some good advices what I could do better feel free to let me know. But enough of that, enjoy this chapter.

* * *

„What are you doing here? " Ghost asked surprised to see the Captain.

"We saw you on TV. You got captured."

"Oh that´s a long story." Price answered.

"We have a couple of hours before we arrive on base." Ghost just said.

Price took a deep breath and started to explain.

* * *

_He looked at his former Captain in disbelief. What was he doing here? He wants to take him home? Was it really that easy for him to get him out of here? A few minutes passed before MacMillian took a few steps in Prices direction, put a hand on his shoulder and shoved him out of the door and out of the office._

"_Just keep on walking." MacMillian told him and they got on a black car, which was waiting for them in front of the huge building. _

_They drove a few meters as Price wanted to know how MacMillian got him out of there._

"_I told them the mission was my idea and you're under my command. They proved the files I gave them and then they had no other chance than to let you free." MacMillian explained._

"_Why have you done this? I never had orders to kill Makarov."_

"_Would you prefer to stay there?"_

"_No, but I just don´t understand your indents." Price answered and looked out of the window._

"_You´ve changed son. In the old days you never asked about any indents."_

"_Maybe you´re right but remember I know you very well. So what are we up too?" _

"_I need you to reunion the Task Force." MacMillian said and earned a suspicious look from Price. _

"_Do you have the right men for this?"_

"_Oh you´re gonna be surprised what men I have for it. Let me just say you know the most of them."_

"_What? Don´t say you recruited some men from the S.A.S?"_

"_No, I didn´t need to recruit men from the S.A.S!"_

"_What else could you do? Almost all of them got killed in the war. Or do you want to tell me they´re still alive?" Price looked at MacMillian with a bitter smile on his face, but as Mac didn´t answer Price got serious._

"_What´s going on here Mac?"_

"_For now I can tell you that we´re on our way to a chopper which brings us to Moscow to pick up Ghost and Roach." Mac answered._

"_You´re kidding me. Ghost and Roach got killed by Sheperd. I heard it through the comms."_

"_Really? You only heard Sheperd giving instructions to burn them. You don´t know what happened after Sheperd left."_

"_Someone saved them? Who was it?"_

"_I´ll explain it later to you. I´m sure the others want to know too why they are still alive." _

* * *

"That´s it." Price finished his speech and looked at Ghost.

"General? Can I ask you something?" Roach asked.

"Of course. What is it Sanderson?" MacMillian answered.

"Did they save us in your name?"

"Yes, you could say that." MacMillian answered and everyone stayed quiet for the rest of the flight.

After a few hours the chopper arrived at the secret base of Task Force 141. MacMillian explained them that the base wasn´t secret anymore because it was everywhere in the news after Sheperd tried to destroy it. In a matter of fact the Task Force wasn´t secret anymore either and everybody in the military knew what they were doing.

All four stepped out of the chopper and Mac led them inside the base and into the conference room. They could hear some voices as they got close to the room and Gary noticed he knew some of them. As they entered the room everyone went silent and stared at the four people coming in.

Ghost looked around and saw a lot of familiar faces. In the room there were Archer, Toad, Scarecrow, Meat, Royce, Ozone, Worm, Chemo, Poet and Peasant. Wait! Meat and Royce? Ghost looked back at them and needed to blink a few times ´cause he couldn´t believe his eyes. Meat and Royce died in Rio, he was sure of that, he heard it through the comms. What was going on here?

"Meat? Royce?" Ghost looked to his left and saw Gary stare with the same confused look on his face.

"Hey Roach, Ghost. Whoa they told us you were alive but we didn´t think you were in that good mood. „Meat and Royce stepped up to them and gave both of them a very hard but lovely hug.

"Hey, what´s up? You two look like you´ve seen some Ghosts." Royce laughed.

"You died. I heard it. You screamed that Meat´s down and you got shot too." Roach answered.

"Oh, that was true. They shot Meat and I thought he died and as I was hit I thought I´d die too but out of nowhere there came some soldiers and brought us out of there."

"But why didn´t you come back? You could have joined us again?"

"We told them the same but they didn´t let us go. They said it´s for our best to stay with them and so we did. By now we must admit they were right. If we would have come back I´m sure Sheperd would have killed us." Meat said and patted Roach on the back, shoving him to the others in the room.

Ghost glanced at Price and followed Royce to welcome all the other soldiers in the room.

"Would you tell us now what happened?" Price asked MacMillian and everyone went silent, excited what Mac had to say. The addressed closed his eyes for a short time, smiled, opened his eyes again and said:

"We have to wait a little bit longer, one more soldier is on his way."

Everyone wondered who´s the last soldier to come here. They were looking around, discussion who wasn´t there. Ghost knew the one person which was missing but he didn´t want to ask Price where he was. He dared to say he got killed on a mission.

"Hey, where´s the Captain?" Worm asked out of the sudden.

Everyone immediately looked at Price, waiting for an answer but he just stood there and didn´t know how to start. How could he explained that Soap died and he was still alive? Would they blame him? Would they wish he had died instead of him? Price knew they had all the rights to hate him for letting him die. He just wanted to answer as a voice was heard from behind them.

"He´s alive."

Every man in the room draw his attention to the man standing in the door. Price himself couldn´t believe his ears. He was afraid to turn around but to satisfy his curiosity he turned around and was almost getting a heart attack.

"This cannot be. This is a dream. This can´t be real." Price stammered, he was sure to see a Ghost.


	10. The Story of the Back Up Force

**First I wanted to thank for your review. It´s an honor for me to read you signed up because you like this story so much. I hope I can keep up the good work and that this story isn´t going to lame sometimes. But enough of that enjoy reading and if there´s something you don´t like just let me know.**

* * *

**What's going on here? This can´t be true, he died. He stopped breathing in my own hands. **Price was confused and stared at the man leaning on the door frame and everyone else in the room did the same.

"Whoa you don´t have to be that happy to see me again." The Captain said and walked straight to the middle of the room.

"Hello? What´s wrong with you? Was I such a terrible leader?" he asked looking at everyone in there.

"No, that´s just because we thought you died." Roach answered.

Soap just smiled, nodded his head and took a seat.

"You could say that. I was dead for about four minutes before a beautiful girl saved me."

"What? A beautiful girl? Tell me about her." Meat got charmed and took a seat too and if it was an order the others did the same.

"I can´t tell you much about her lad. As I woke up in the hospital weeks later a soldier from the Resistance told me that this girl had saved me. I don´t even know her name."

"So you don´t even know how she looked? How can you tell she was beautiful?" Meat asked very disappointed.

"Well, she saved my life I guess and that makes her beautiful if you ask me."

Meat shook his head. He couldn´t understand why his Captain believed this girl was beautiful only ´cause a soldier told him so. Every men has a different taste in women. He for example liked petite women with blue eyes and blond hair. If he would be saved from a woman he never seen he wouldn´t just pass the rumor that she´s beautiful.

"Something's wrong? You look pretty confused." Soap asked Meat.

"What? No, everything´s fine." Meat raised his hands in defense and snickered like a little school girl who was broached from her crush.

Soap just raised an eye brow and turned his attention to Price. He studied him exactly and noticed that Price couldn´t get his eyes off of him. He wondered how Price must be feeling; after all he died in his arms and he knew Price saw in him more than just a friend. Soap sighted; he wanted to explain what happened but he himself didn´t understand what exactly was going on here. He only heard he was saved from a girl, which reanimated him and a doctor giving the Resistance the order to bring him out of the warzone and into a hospital. Soap was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard Ghost ask the General to explain what was going on here.

* * *

The General just nodded his head and began to report:

"_Well. I understand that all of you want answers to what happened and who saved you. But for this story I have to go back to the year 2009. Back then we lost a lot of soldiers in the battle against a drug dealer in the Middle East. We send them to the Headquarter of this dealer, where we assumed him and his allies. _

_Everything went well and we could capture the tango; but as we were about to bring him out of there some of his men set a trap for us. The Result was that the dealer could escape and all of our soldiers died. They waited till our men were in the building, captured the soldiers and tortured them. We couldn´t do anything ´cause we only had a heli waiting for them. After this dramatic event we decided to never ever let a Team go on a mission without any back up and so we formed the SA 1 Team. But even this Team got a weak point; all members of this unit were only soldiers, ´cause we didn´t think we ever would need any medical staff out there. It was pretty pathetic by hindsight."_

The General took a break and looked like some bad memories were about to cross his mind. He paused a few seconds, took a deep breath and continued:

"_You all know the story of Imran Zakhaev I guess? So you know what happened on the bridge where a lot of Prices´ Team got killed. But it wasn´t just his Teammates who lost their lives there. We had our Team there for Back Up, they were hiding near the bridge but somehow Zakhaev knew they were there and a heli started to blow up their position. Many of them died immediately but some survived at first. They tried to escape and get back on the chopper which was waiting for them but as a matter of their injuries they didn´t make it. They died in horrible pain and so our Team was destroyed. That days I didn´t want to recruit a new Team but as I told their families what happened and that they´ve died and it was all my fault they didn´t blame me. They told me to continue with my work because other soldiers should get the chance to be saved when they´re in danger and so I decided to generate a new, a better team. So I brought in some nurses and doctors, who were working for the military and after that we could save so much lives, including yours."_

* * *

"Do we have the chance to meet these people?" Scarecrow asked.

"This should be difficult."

"Why? Are they on a mission? Is something bad going on what we don´t know right now?"

"No, the SA 2 Team doesn´t exists anymore."

"What? Why? So you tell us we will never meet the people which saved us?" Ozone shouted.

MacMillian shook his head.

"One of them broke the only rule I had for this team. The medical staff should stay out of business if they had to put themselves in danger but as MacTavish laid there on the table and Makarovs men were shooting bullets through all of the building one of the nurses stormed in and reanimated him."

"So you´re saying that this beautiful girl who saved him knew the consequences and still she saved him?" Meat asked and Mac nodded.

"I want to meet her." Now it was Soap who spoke.

"What? You can´t meet her, it´s too dangerous for her, for you and the whole Back up Team. What do you want from her anyway?"

"I want to ask her why she put herself in danger to save me." Soap raised his voice and stood up.

"That´s all you want to know? I can tell you why. She´s that kind of human which only thinks about others and doesn´t give a shit what happens to her." MacMillian answered calmly.

Soap took some deep breaths. This answer didn´t satisfy him at all. He wanted to hear it from herself. Besides he wanted to ask her if she knew the consequences of his 4 minutes of death. Physically he was in a good mood again but mentally he had some problems. He often felt dizzy and had his problems to concentrate on important things. And not only Soap was unsatisfied; Ghost wanted to ask the person which saved his life a few things. He wasn´t really happy to life too. He wanted to ask them what they were thinking what they were doing. In his opinion they dared to play gods.

"I want to meet them too." Roach said.

"I said no and that´s an order understood?" MacMillian answered. "And right now you shouldn´t think about why they saved you. You should rather celebrate your reunion." MacMillian got angry this time. It was for their own sake to never meet them. He didn´t want to argue with them now and so he just shook his head, turned around and left the room.


	11. Experiences

The General slammed the door to his office, he was full of anger. He wasn´t angry about Soap or Roach, he was angry about himself. He never thought this conversation could end like this, he expected they were too happy to meet again and not to ask him so much about his secret Task Force.

He never wanted to be that rude and tell those lies. Sure someday they will meet his Team and they have all the rights to know how and why they got saved but right now MacMillian had other Problems in his mind. There was something he needed to tell Price but he didn´t know how to do it. What is Price going to do if he finds out the full story? Will it be the end of their good relationship? Will their friendship turn into hate? He couldn´t resent him, at any case he would react like that. Mac knew he couldn´t keep it a secret any more. The longer he would wait the harder it would be for Price to handle the truth. Mac got to the phone and dialed a number, he needed to know what she was thinking about the Situation…..

* * *

Meanwhile in the conference room the atmosphere got better. Everyone exchanged their experiences they had with Mac´s Force. They heard Ghost´s and Roach´s memory of their rescue and the months they spent in the Russian Hospital. Gary couldn´t even deny to mention Ghost´s "Love story", as he called it. While Ghost kept telling them that there was none and he only liked her as a friend, but especially Meat didn´t believe him. He made fun of it and gave Ghost the advice to ask Poet if he could write a Love Poem for him. This conversation ended abruptly as Ghost allusion a story including Meat, a lot of beer, a hotel and a transgender man. No one had ever seen Meat shut up so quickly.

Meat and Royce could definitely tell the longest story, ´cause they were protected all the time. Every step they took was watched by a Soldier. The only thing they could do on their own was to go on toilet and sleep. They felt like prisoners the whole time. They weren´t even allowed to go outside of the hideout they were in and so they didn´t know in what country they were. Royce couldn´t remember he saw any women around where they were and Meat mentioned that the Soldiers weren´t very talkative. They only gave them short answers or ignored them. But the worst thing for them was to kill time, they had no TV, no games, no paper and couldn´t train, so both started to write a diary about their "very interesting" time. As Toad asked them what they wrote in it both men exchanged a look and told them they wouldn´t want to know but this statement wasn´t good enough especially not for Toad, he wanted to get both of them back for their last prank. He smiled; when the two were asleep that night he knew what he was searching for.

Speaking of Toad, he and Archer got rescued too but against everyone´s opinion they didn´t got saved at the same time as Ghost and Roach. After they saw Ghost and Roach escape toward Shepherds position they left their spot on the hill and got back to the Evac Point they should be picked up but as no one came they started to walk to the next village they found. They stayed the night in a stable, waiting for any response from their teammates what was going on. But as no one called them and they couldn´t call any one they decided to leave the village and find a train or a bus station to travel back to base. That was easier to say than to do ´cause there was nothing around for miles and as they had given up all hope to ever leave this place they got picked up by MacMillian himself, who brought them to a safety place. There they met the rest of the Team, which were saved before Shadow Company could kill them.

After their story everyone was excited what Price had to report. He told them everything from how Soap killed Sheperd, their escape to India, meeting Yuri, the chase after Makarov, Soap´s and Yuri´s dead, how he managed to kill Makarov till his rescue by MacMillian. After he ended his story all of the Soldiers began to applause for him and they decided to go out in town to celebrate their "homecoming".

All of them left the conference room to rest a bit in their barracks, only Soap and Price were left behind. Soap asked Price to stay because he wanted to talk to him in confidence. They were sitting face to face and Soap tried to find the right words to start the conversation.

"So, how you´re doing?" he asked

"I´m fine and you?"

"It´s getting better every day. Listen Price, there´s something I wanted to tell you. I´m sorry that you had to worry so much, ´cause you thought I was dead but I couldn´t get in contact with you. I had to handle the situation for myself first and I didn´t know how to contact you."

"It´s okay Soap. It´s not your fault and I never was as happy as I am now to see you." Price smiled weakly. He knew how to tease Soap a bit.

"Well, thanks for that old man. That applies to you too. By the way is MacMillian all the time like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"His behavior, he got very angry as we talked about his Task Force."

"He´s sometimes hard to handle but I´m sure if you ask him again his answer may will change. Just leave it for a few days."

"Fine, I think I´m gonna ask him again."

"You really want to meet her."

"Of course, she saved my life."

"That's all? Don´t lie to me Soap I know you for years now."

"Hm….It´s just I don´t understand why she didn´t let me die. I mean I was dead and if she´s a good nurse I´m sure she knew the consequences."

"What consequences do you mean?" Price got very serious. Was something wrong with his friend?

"It´s just I sometimes feel dizzy and it´s hard for me to concentrate but that´s all."

Price raised an eyebrow. That´s all? Soap was the Captain, he needed to concentrate ´cause his decisions were important for his whole Team. He was responsible for them and had to take care of them, as if they were his children. He needed to be here with all of his power to lead a Team. Should he go to Mac and tell him that Soap wasn´t doing fine? No, he wanted to wait, he wanted to see how Soap was doing his job, maybe it wouldn´t affect his work.

"Price?" Soap asked looking suspicious.

"Nothings. It´s okay, come on we should get some rest before we go to town." Price answered standing up and leaving the room followed by Soap.

* * *

It was a long night for the members of TF 141. They went to a bar, drank some beer and talked about the good old times. Meat and Royce tried to hook up with some girls but failed badly ´cause they were too pushy. Archer and Toad spend the time with darts, Poet and Worm played a card game and the others just sat around and talked.

Roach could feel the stares of the people in the bar, or at least he thought they would stare and felt very uncomfortable. He left the bar after two hours, telling his friends he didn´t feel well and wanted to sleep but Ghost knew why he was leaving. He saw how Gary watched the people around them and always turned his gaze away when they were about to look back. Ghost was sure Roach needed more time to feel comfortable around strangers and so he let him go. He offered him to go back with him but Roach didn´t want him to leave only he left.

Unfortunately Roach was the only one staying sober and so the others had to walk all the way back to base, ´cause they were drinking too much, leaving their trucks in front of the bar.

They got back to base at 4 o´clock in the morning and were more than happy that they didn´t had to train in the morning or do something important. They had a few days off, where they could do what they wanted to do at least that was what the General told them before they left the base.

It was about noon as almost every men woke up, only Price slept longer. As he awoke it was about 2 o´clock p.m. and his head felt like he carried cans of bricks on it. He left his bed slowly not wanting to move his head too much and went to his bath room to get ready for the day. After he took a shower and shaved, he decided to go to Mac and ask him if they had any medicine for his headache. He reached Mac´s office and saw that the door was open and so he knocked on the door and stepped in immediately.

"Hey Mac! Do we have some aspirin? I fell like my head is going to explode." Price asked, looking down on the floor to avoid more pain in his head.

"John?" Price definitely drank too much last night, Mac´s voice sounded like a female´s. Price giggled.

"Mac? I´m sorry, I think I drank too much. You sound like…" Price lifted his head and forgot what he was going to say. His eyes grew wide and his voice crackled.

"Gisela? What are you doing here?" He couldn´t believe she was here. From all the people he thought he would meet here he never thought of her. He never imagined her in a military base. After all the last one you think you would meet at work is your wife.


	12. The worst day since the war

Price watched the fizzy tablet dissolve in the glass of water his wife had given him. Right now he found it more interesting than to talk to her. He didn´t know what she was expecting from him. Why was she here? Did Mac call her? Did he tell her everything that happened? Was she mad at him? He was afraid to look her in the eyes and tell her the truth. He didn´t want to tell her he got a lot of chances to call her but didn´t take them. As the tablet dissolved completely he took some sips, not turning his eyes off the table.

"John? Are you okay?" his wife asked him and laid a hand over one of his own hands. This little gesture made him flinch his hand and he crossed his arms in front of his chest. He leered at her and saw she was disappointed. She let out a deep breath and kept on talking.

"I know we haven´t seen each other for almost six years now and I understand this is a difficult experience for you and me."

Price listened to her but didn´t response at all.

"John? Talk to me. What´s going on in your mind?"

Price switched uncomfortably in his chair. He didn´t know how to tell her that he missed her. He wanted to be with her all the time she wasn´t around, he wanted to be loved by her but right now he wished she wouldn´t be here. He wasn´t ready to talk to her now.

"I don´t know what to say." He sighed.

"That´s all? We haven´t seen us that long and you don´t know what to say? How about asking how your daughter´s doing? She waited for you since we knew you were alive."

"How long did you know I´m alive?"

"Mac called us as you send him a message you needed some information."

Price just smiled weakly. "Did he call you to come here?"

"Yes, he did. He said I should come and talk to you."

"About what?"

"Excuse me? Who are you? Why did you become so distant?"

"It´s a side effect of my work."

"Really? So you tell me every Soldier is going to be like that after he spend the most time of his life in duty? John, do you hear yourself talking? You sound ridiculous."

"I know what I´m saying, I´m not deaf. You know me don´t you? I´m not the man who tells you every day that I love you, I never was."

"I never forced you to say it every day John. Again it´s been six years, six years without any sign of life from you. Do you think it was an easy time for me and Anna? Every friend asked about you and I told all of them you´re dead. It breaks my heart to see you again, knowing you probably think we can go back like we were before you disappeared. I thought I could talk to you like normally grown-ups do but all you do is asking me how long I know you´re alive. You should better ask how long I waited to get a sign of life from you before I fell in love with another man."

What was she saying? Did he hear right? She fell in love with another man? Who was it? Did he know him? Price felt anger coming up in him.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"What?" Gisela stared at him. It was hard to believe for her he was more interested in the man she fell in love with then to ask anything about his daughter.

"Are you serious John? I tell you your daughter missed you and you didn´t response but as I told you I´m in love with another man you ask me who he is. I can´t believe it." Gisela stood up, turned around and looked out of the window. This conversation didn´t went as well as she thought.

"You tell me my daughter missed me but where is she? Is she with him? Did he become her new dad?" Price stood up too, walked up to his wife, seized her on her shoulders, turned her around and forced her to give him an answer.

"Where she is? She came back from France this morning. She sleeps and wanted to come here later but if you want I call her and tell her you don´t care if she´s here or not. It´s your choice." Gisela answered.

Price shook his head and went off to the door. "I want to see her so don´t you dare to call her and about your new love, I don´t care who he is as long as you´re happy."

Price walked out of the room, pumping into Mac. Price didn´t apologize and just kept on walking. Mac watched him disappear and walked into his office, finding Gisela standing on the window, tears building in her eyes. Mac approached her and took her in his arms. He stroke her hair and asked her what happened.

"I told him everything Mac."

"What did he say?"

"He said he don´t care who´s the man I´m in love with as long as I´m happy but I know he lied. I know I broke his heart. I saw it in his eyes. What have I done?" Gisela kept on crying and Mac stood there, holding her in his arms and didn´t know what to do.

* * *

Soap was wandering around the base to check if anything has changed since he was here for the last time. He noticed that not much has changed only the truck fleet had grown bigger, thinking about the trucks, someone had to travel back to town to get the trucks they left in the morning. He wanted to ask Ghost and Roach if they were ready to do this little job. He was about to go back inside the base as he heard someone shooting at the firing range. He wondered who of his Soldiers was able to handle a weapon after their pub-crawl. Curious he went to the firing range and to his own surprise it was his former Captain who perforated the targets. Price must been here for hours, counting on the shells which were laying all around. He sneaked up to him and saw that Price must be really angry. His head was deep red, his eyes were staring straight and the vein on his throat was swollen. As Price recognized Soap he put his weapon down and began to clean it.

"What are you doing here?" Soap asked slightly amused.

"I try to calm myself down." Price just answered and continued his work.

"I see that. The targets look like Swiss cheese." Soap joked but as Price didn´t response he got serious.

"What´s wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Price? Do you really want to hear me say the same words you said to me yesterday?" Soap took a few steps in Price´s direction and looked at him seriously worried. Price returned his look, laid his weapon on the storing, lighted himself a cigar and started to explain.

"My wife´s here. She told me my daughter would miss me and that she´s in love with another man."

"Are you serious?" Soap couldn´t hide his amazement.

"Yes, she told me she waited long enough to get any sign of life from me till she fell in love with him."

"I´m sorry and what about your daughter?"

"Gisela told me she was going to come here in the afternoon but I don´t think so. Anna´s 22 now, she doesn´t need a dad anymore."

"How could you say that? I don´t think your wife would lie to you in this case."

"Maybe you´re right but I've been here for hours and my daughter didn´t arrive. If she had I would have seen it from here. She´s not coming Soap."

* * *

Soap wanted to say something to comfort his friend but got interrupted from Ozone, who was running up to them.

"Captain. You have to come inside. Something bad has happened." Ozone said breathless.

"Cool down. What´s going on?" Soap told Ozone and patted him on the shoulder.

"No, you need to come quick." Ozone answered and started to run back inside.

Price and Soap exchanged a look and ran after him as fast as they could. They followed Ozone into the conference room, where the whole Task Force, including Mac and Price´s wife, were waiting for them. Price realized that his wife was crying.

"What´s wrong?" he asked, looking at Gisela.

"She´s gone." She snuffled.

"Who?"

"Anna. I tried to call her where she is but a police officer answered the call. He said Anna got kidnapped."

Gisela started to cry even more, whilst Price couldn´t believe what he heard.


	13. Kidnapped

Moaning Anna tried to open her eyes. Her head hurt and she felt dizzy.

** What was happening?**

_ She was about to visit her dad as a Soldier in a Truck stopped right in front of her and told her he was sent to pick her up. Anna remembered what her dad told her when she was younger, never trust anyone you don´t know and so she told him not to come with him. At first he tried to change her mind and argue with her that he drove all the way just to pick her up and that she doesn´t have to act like a little child, which was baited with candies. But Anna just kept on walking, not wanting to talk to him. If they had sent a soldier to pick her up, her mother or Mac had called her and told her to be picked up. She felt that the truck was tracing her and she started walking faster. She put her mobile phone out of her pocket and wanted to call her mom to tell her what was going on but as she turned her gaze to the screen she pumped into a man and lost her phone. She looked up and wanted to tell the man about the truck tracing her and as she was about to open her mouth the man in front of her smiled mischievous. That was the last thing Anna could remember because she blacked out._

Anna wondered what was going on here. Where was she? Her eyes needed some time to adjust to the darkness in the room she was in. The only thing she saw was an iron door in front of her. She tried to move her hands but realized they were bond behind her back. She looked down and saw that her legs were bond too. For some seconds she tried to open the knots but failed badly. She considered to scream but was sure that no one would hear her. Stuck in silence she thought about why she got kidnapped. She was just a normal girl. Sure her dad and her stepfather were high ranked Soldiers but she never was interested in their work. She even hated to talk about what they were doing and her mom always kept it a secret. She always told to strangers that her husband and her lover were working in the field but never mentioned their military career. Anna was desperate. If her mum knew she got kidnapped? Maybe she tried to call her? But her phone was gone, she lost it as they captured her.

As she heard someone unlocking the door she get even more nervous, who would step in? The door opened loudly and the Soldier from the Truck stepped in followed from a man she hasn´t seen before. The Soldier closed the door and positioned himself in front of it, his arms crossed in front of his chest. The other man walked up to Anna, put one of his hands under her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. Anna didn´t like how he looked at her, his eyes seemed crazy and scared her a bit.

"That´s she?" The man asked the soldier in a deep voice, which made Anna shiver.

"Yes, she´s kind of pretty isn´t she?" the Soldier answered and stepped up to the man.

"Maybe. You know I´m not interested in her. Well, I let you take care of her, you know what to do?"

"Of course Sir. Leave it to me." The soldier replied and the man turned around again and left the room.

"Oh love. You seem a little bit scared. You don´t have to be. Everything´s gonna be alright." The soldier told Anna and ran his fingers through his hair. This action made Anna turn her head, she don´t wanted to be touched from him. The Soldier shrugged his hand back and started to laugh sinisterly.

"Oh, I like how you avoid my touch. Strong women are my favorites, it´s a shame we don´t have the time to have fun with each other. You wear a nice bracelet." He whispered in her ear and ripped her silver bracelet from her wrist.

"It´s a nice Trophy." He said and put the jewelry in his pocket. He once more stroke her hair and kissed her forehead.

Anna was disgust; what was he going to do to her? She closed her eyes and waited for the worst but seconds later she heard the door open again and as she opened her eyes the Soldier was gone. She breathed deeply; she somehow knew he wouldn´t come back soon but she wished more than ever her dad would come and get her out of there.

* * *

Half an hour has passed since the TF found out Anna´s got kidnapped. They all were waiting for the police officer Gisela talked to, who was going to come to base. He said the kidnappers didn´t have the best chances to get away with this ´cause the whole town was equipped with security cameras. After ten more minutes the officer stepped in the conference room and began to explain what happened. He reported that Anna got kidnapped in broad daylight and a passerby could notice the license plate. His office immediately started with the investigations, found her phone and wanted to check the owners' identity as Gisela called and told them he was Anna's mother. He brought the video stuff they had with him and decided to watch it with the Task Force. They hadn´t watched long as Gisela recognized Anna on the video and seconds later they watched a Truck driving alongside her. They saw the driver argue with her and Anna pumping into this man and short after that a man jumped out from the back of the Truck and putting something over Anna´s mouth. They saw how she collapsed and the two men carrying her into the Truck; driving away fast.

The police officer put in some other tapes and they watched the Truck driving through the streets, till it stopped in front of an old factory. The men hopped out and carried Anna inside the building. The officer turned off the screen and waited for any response of the Soldiers. Price was the first to react; he got up from his chair, turning his attention to Mac.

"Why do we wait? We know where she is, we should go and save her."

"Calm down Price. We need a plan. We can´t just go in there and get her out. We don´t even know how many men are in there." Mac said.

"I don´t care how many men are in there. She´s my daughter, if we don´t do something now I go on my own." Price screamed.

"I agree with him. We should hurry." The police officer interfered.

"Well then. You all gear up. We go in 5 Minutes." Mac gave the order and every men left the room.

"MacTavish? Would you please wait?" Mac asked Soap and Soap stayed behind.

"What is it Sir?" Soap asked, not knowing what his General wanted from him.

"I need you to stay here. I´ll take your place and go with them."

"But Sir…"

"No MacTavish, it´s an order. I´ve heard about your handicap."

"What handicap do you mean?" Soap didn´t know what the General was talking about.

"Really not? I heard you have your problems to concentrate." The General told him.

"Who told you this?"

"It doesn´t matter. You stay here and I go with them. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good, you can go now."

Soap left the conference room filled with anger. The only person here which knew he had his problems was Price. He was sure he was the one telling it to the General. Soap wondered if the General would send him home after they rescued Price´s daughter. Or would the General give him a desk job? He didn´t want to think about that; he hated paperwork. Soap went to his room, if he couldn´t go on the mission with his team he wanted to take the time to get some rest.

* * *

"Where´s Soap?" Price asked as they were boarding the Trucks.

"He´s not coming along with us." Mac simply replied.

"Why?" Roach joined the Conversation.

"I told him to stay at base. There are some things about him I just need to figure out."

"What things do you mean Sir?" Now it was Ghost who spoke.

"None of your business Lieutenant. No stop asking these kind of questions, we have a job to do." And with this words the Trucks started to drive to their detonation.

They drove about ten minutes as they arrived the factory. They stopped in a side street where some police officers were already waiting for them. They all got out of the Trucks and Mac gave them the instructions. Archer and Toad headed to a house on the other side of the street and went to the roof where they had a good view to the factory. The other soldiers split up into three teams, ready to storm the building from every entrance. They waited for Mac´s go and crushed threw the doors at once. Price, Roach and Ghost encountered three enemies behind the front door and shot them immediately. They went along a long corridor, with Rooms on every side. They checked every single room but they all were empty. At the end of the corridor they turned around a corner and met the other two Teams consisting of Meat, Royce, Chemo, Ozone and some police men. Meat told them they put five enemies down but hadn´t found Anna yet. They only had one room left to go, the only room with an iron door. Price ordered the Team to position on every side of the door and as they did so he put his hand on the doorknob and opened it.

Behind the door he saw his daughter, bond to a chair, looking up to him with tears in her eyes. Price got downs on his knees and released her legs from the rope, while Roach released her arms. Anna smiled, stood up weakly and flung her arms around Prices neck. Price hugged her gently and whispered to her that she´s save now and everything's gonna be alright. He felt tears running down her cheeks and heard her sobbing. He stroke his back and told Roach to get her out of here. Roach nodded to him, laid an arm around Anna´s shoulder and led her out of the building.

Price and the others stayed in there and tried to find some information who was responsible for her kidnap. Again they went through every room, looking for something useful. Ghost was the one who investigated the Room Anna was locked in. On the walls were some pieces of newspaper with reports of…Soap?

Ghost saw over them and recognized that the news all were about how he survived the attack on the bridge in 2011, how he got promoted and how his home country celebrated him as a hero. He also recognized that someone has blackened all the pictures of Soap. Ghost wondered what was going on there as he heard a noise from the back of the room and a Shadow running through the door. Ghost went after it as fast as he could and outside of the room he saw that the Shadow was a man, running for his life. He yelled at him to stop but the man just laughed crazy and kept on running. Ghost tried to contact the others as he heard Roach´s voice over his mic, saying that Anna told him one more kidnapper was left and that he hid inside the room she was. Ghost asked angry why she hadn´t told them as they rescued her and Roach responded that the man said he would kill Price if she says one word.

Great. Ghost thought and kept on running but this man was really fast. He turned around the corner and saw that the man was running to the back entrance of the building. Ghost raised his pistol and shot but didn´t strike. He cursed, he never failed his target. The man was already outside the building and Ghost was about to leave it currently as he heard a shot and the man falling lifeless to the ground.

"You were faster before." Ghost heard Archer over the comms.

"Kiss my ass." He simply replied with a smile and turned around to gather the newspapers he saw in this room.

As they had all the information they could get they left the factory and took Anna back to base with them. The police officers told them they would take care of the dead bodies and would call if they found something important.

* * *

Soap was lying on his bed, thinking about the General´s words. He hoped he was able to show him that he wasn´t weak and could do his job, like he did it before. The Task Force was gone since half an hour and he wished they would come back soon. He hated it to be alone, stuck in silence. Since he was in the hospital after his accidence he always thought about his fall from the clock tower in Prague. The harder he tried to forget the harder he got lost in his thoughts. It was a vicious circle. He breathed deeply and closed his eyes, trying to get some rest. He was about to fall asleep as someone knocked on his door. He rolled his eyes in annoyance, got up from the bed and opened the door. He looked in the face of a man he never had seen before.

"Captain MacTavish?" the man asked with a deep voice.

"Yes, that´s right." Soap answered.

"General MacMillian called me. He said you want to meet the girl who saved you."

"That´s true."

"Well, today is your lucky day. I´m here to get you and take you to her."

"Really? Why should you do that? The General told us we aren´t allowed to meet any members of his Task Force."

"I know. He said it because he didn´t want to disappoint your Team. He said after you have met her he will allow it to the others too. Come on, why should I lie to you?"

The man smiled friendly at Soap. Soap was skeptical at first but then he realized that the man in front of him must tell the truth, otherwise he wouldn´t pass the gate to the base. Soap told the man he would come with him, got his jacket and followed the man to his Truck.

As Price and the Team came back to base Anna was asleep and Roach brought her to an empty Room, where she could rest. Price asked him to stay with her but Gisela told Roach she would take care of her and sent Roach out of the Room. The others were all together in the conference Room and Ghost was looking for Soap, he needed to see what they had found in the factory. He first went to Soap´s Room but as he couldn´t find him he was searching the whole base but no sign of Soap. Thereupon Ghost asked the Soldier who was watching the gate, if Soap had left the base. The Soldier told him a man was here to get him, saying he was part of Mac´s secret Task Force. Ghost wondered if Mac had changed his mind but then remembered that Mac was the one sending Ghost to get Soap. Something's wrong in here. Ghost thought to himself and asked the Soldier to give him the tape which filmed the arrival of the man. The Soldier handed it to him and Ghost went back to the conference room, reporting Mac what the Soldier had told him and as Mac said he didn´t send a soldier to get Soap Ghost put the Tape in the Player to see who was here to get Soap.

As the Tape showed the arrival of the Truck and the Soldier getting out of it Mac couldn´t believe his eyes. He knew the man on the Tape but this was impossible. The man was part of his first Back up Force but he died, killed from the helicopter. Or was he? They never found his dead body but if he had survived why didn´t he come back. Why did he appear right now? Why would he capture Soap? An idea crossed Mac´s mind, what if he… captured her too?


	14. Andrew

„Here we are. " The man, who introduced himself as Andrew stopped the truck in front of an old building.

Soap got out of the vehicle and looked at the building, he knew where they were. In there he got his ribbon for his courage on the battlefield and got promoted as a Captain. He wondered why he should meet his life-saver here, the building was closed since five years. He glared at Andrew with a questioning look.

"What? Something's wrong?" Andrew asked him recognizing his glare.

"Why is the meeting here?" Soap answered.

"It was her choice she said she wanted to meet you in a place you have good memories with."

Doubts still lurked in Soaps mind but he didn´t say anything and followed Andrew into the building. They walked side by side in silence and Soap´s doubts grew bigger every step they took. He was sure something was wrong in here. He put one hand in his pocket to check if he had his pistol with him. He felt the cold barrel and relaxed a bit, he could defend himself if it gets too dangerous.

They made their way through many corridors, all dimly lit, till they stopped in front of a brown wooden door. Andrew pulled a key out of his jacket and unlocked the door with it. He held the door open and let Soap pass by into the room. Soap stepped in and then he felt a strike on the back of his head, which made him loose his senses and he fell hard to the floor.

* * *

As Soap came round again he felt light pressure on the back of his head. His head hurt and he needed some time to remember what was happening. He had taken some steps into this room as he suddenly blacked out. Did Andrew do this? Why should he? Wasn´t he the one he said he is? What was going on here? He was lying on the floor and to move his arms and legs but couldn´t ´cause they were bonded with a rope. He mumbled in anger. He was a strong man, this ropes couldn´t hold him back. He moved his hands accurate and tried to open the knots, but they were made by a professional, he tried really hard but they didn´t cut.

"Stop trying this, it´s no use." Soap heard a voice from the back of the room.

He turned around and saw a girl, sitting on the wall, looking at him. He wondered who she was and why she was kept in here. He also recognized she wasn´t bond. He just wanted to ask her who she was as she stood up and walked straight up to him. He followed her with his eyes and wondered why she checked the part of his head which got hurt. He felt the pressure on his head reduction and watched her holding a pad covered with blood. She chucked it away into a dustbin, which was funnily enough, in the room and took a new pad, which she pressed against his forehead and fixed it with a gauze bandage.

"Why are you doing this? You don´t even know me." Soap asked her as she was done with his head.

"It´s my job and I know you. You´re John MacTavish call sign Soap. You´re leader of Task Force 141 and Captain of Ghost and Roach." The girl said and sat down on the floor.

"What?" Soap couldn´t believe his ears. Now he even more wanted to know who she was. He studied her, thinking if he knew her but her face didn´t seem familiar. Maybe she was from another Military Team he used to work with in the past. No, he shook his head. There were never women around. The only chance for him to get to know he she was, was to simply ask her. He cleared his throat and tried to smile friendly at her.

"You know a lot about me but help me remember. Have we ever met before?"

She shook her head.

"Not exactly." Was her short answer.

"Well, then tell me, who are you?" He asked looking her deeply in the eyes. He felt that she was getting nervous. She avoided his glance, turned her head to the side, let a sigh escape her lips and started to talk.

"I am…"

* * *

"Mac? What´s wrong with you. You look worried." Price asked his friend, recognizing his look.

"I need to make some calls." Mac answered and left the room.

Price wondered what was gotten into his friend. He never saw him this nervous. He turned his gaze back to the freeze frame, which showed the mysterious soldier, thinking if he knew him. He was sure he saw his face somewhere but couldn´t remember where it was.

"I know his face." Ghost spoke up and Price looked astonished at him.

"You too?" Price asked.

"He seems familiar to me as well but I can´t remember where I have seen him."

"The same here Sir. I´m sure I saw him on a picture but that's all." Roach admitted.

"Wait here. I´m sure Mac knows who he is." Price told them and left the room.

He quickly went to Mac´s office and could hear him talk to someone on the phone. He pressed his ear against the door to eavesdrop what he was saying but only understood some scraps of the conversation. He heard words like "Andrew", "Capture", "Rescue", but couldn´t pull them together. He waited a few minutes till Mac hang up the phone and stepped into the office. Mac, who was bended over some papers got startled as Price stepped behind him and glanced at the pages, seeing various numbers written on them.

"Never do that again John. I don´t like it when someone is sneaking around in my office." Mac said and continued to read over the papers.

"Who´s Andrew?" Price asked, still looking down at the pages.

"The man who captured Soap." Mac simply said and began dialing a number from the pages.

"Where do you know him from?"

"He was part of my first Back up Force."

"I thought all of them died?"

"And so did me." Mac turned around and looked Price in the eyes.

"John, I have to make some more calls would you please leave me alone? I´ll explain everything to you later but right now I have to figure out if she´s save."

"Who do you mean?" Price asked and as Mac was about to answer him Worm came running into the room, telling them the Police officer was here to show them something important.

Mac shot Price a look that said him he couldn´t go now and so Price followed Worm and Mac stayed in his office. They went back to the conference room and as they entered it the Police officer laid different kinds of jewelry, covered with plastic packs, on the table.

"We found this in the pockets of one man you shot at the factory. Does anything belong to your daughter?" The Police officer asked Price.

Price walked closer to the evidence and looked over it. He stopped as he recognized the bracelet he gave Anna as she was a kid. He took it in his hands and nodded in the Officers direction. The Officer nodded back and Price took the bracelet with him, he wanted to give it Anna back later.

"What about the other stuff?" Poet asked.

"I don´t know, that´s the only thing I´m sure that belongs to Anna." Price answered.

"If you want to take a look you can." The Police officer stated and all the soldiers gathered around the table, to look at the things lying there.

Most of the men shook their heads and told the Officer they never had seen any of this, but Ghost was sure he knew the necklace, which was lying there. He tried to remember where he had seen it, he wasn´t around any women the last couple of months, but he was sure he saw it not long ago. He contemplated over a minute but couldn´t remember. He sighted heavily as an email was sent to the main computer in the conference room. Price stepped up to it and clicked a few times, before he knitted his eye brows together and looked up from the screen.

"Someone had send us a visible picture of the one who captured Soap." Price spoke and within a second the picture was projected on the big screen of the conference room.

They saw a man in his early twenties with short brown hair and brown eyes. He was thin and smiled friendly on this picture and his face was a perfect study. In the lower left corner of the picture was a date.

**22.03.2010**

The picture was already seven years old. Ghost studied the picture exactly, he knew he had seen him before but where? He was pretty sure he knew this picture, he tried to recall the memory and as he looked to the necklace again and then back to the man the scales fell from his eyes. He now remembered who´s necklace it was and where he had seen this man but this was impossible.

"Ghost? Are you okay?" Roach asked him concerned.

"Roach. You said you know his face don´t you?" Ghost asked his friend.

"That´s true why do you ask?"

"Don´t you remember where you have seen him? Think about it."

Roach first looked confused at him but then he turned his head and began to study the picture. He looked intensely at it for a few minutes till it crossed his mind. He looked back to Ghost with eyes wide open.

"Ghost? What does this mean?"

"I don´t know." Ghost just answered thoughtful.

"Hey you two, what´s wrong?" Archer asked and everyone looked at them.

"Do you know anything about him?"

Roach shot Ghost a glance and nodded his head.

"We don´t know him personal we only heard stories about him."

"Who told you about him?" Now it was Price who asked.

"Well, we told you about the nurse we met in the Russian hospital right?" Roach asked and Price nodded.

"She is or rather was his girlfriend."

"What? What did she tell you about him?" Price rose his voice and got closer to Roach.

"Not much. She said he was killed in 2011."

"Really? Maybe she´s his accomplice."

"No, she´s not." Price turned his head and saw Mac entering the room.

"How do you know that?" Price asked full of anger and approached the General.

"She got captured too." Mac answered acidly and Ghost couldn´t believe what he heard.

.

.

This bastard captured Julia too?


	15. Only a lie?

„What are we going to do now? " Ghost said after Mac had told them Julia was captured.

"First we have to find out what Andrew intended and then we need to find out where he kept them imprisoned." Mac answered while he studied the newspapers they found in the building Anna was captured.

"Would you first brief us what you know about him and the girl?" Price asked Mac.

"Price, that´s a waste of time. We should hurry and find out where they are." Ghost said a little angry.

Price looked at him and let out a deep sigh.

"I know this sucks. Believe me I´d rather be out and save them as fast as we could but we need to handle this like every other mission and besides if we know everything about them we´re able to work faster."

"Fine but hurry up." Ghost replied still angry and sat down on the table, waiting for Mac to tell them everything he knows.

Mac nodded and started to brief them about Andrew and Julia. He told them that Andrew was an aspiring, clever young man who always did his best to satisfy his personal intentions. He got selected to Mac´s Task Force because he was a damn good sniper and could sneak around his enemies without them noticing him. He was also good in making new friends and was the born leader of a team. Unfortunately he never got higher ranked then a Lieutenant, what lowered his self-esteem and he sometimes had his difficulties to subordinate. After the events on the bridge, where Mac thought he died, Mac visit Andrew´s girlfriend to tell her he died in battle.

This was the first time he met Julia and there he found out that she was a nurse. As he told her he wanted to build up a new Team, she begged him to become a part of it, and she wanted to continue the work of her boyfriend. At first Mac was skeptical about her joining his Team ´cause she never worked in the Military and hasn´t had the basic education you need to go out on the battlefield but she was one of the stubbornness woman he ever met. She promised him to complete every training she needed to join his Team and told him she would get him on the nerves as long as she could till she got his permission to get enlisted.

Mac also told them it was Julia who saved Soap in Prague and after this happening he ordered her to go to the Russian Hospital where Ghost and Roach were in, to look after them and to keep him informed about their way of healing.

"And you´re sure she´s not his accomplice?" Price asked as Mac ended.

"Yes, I´m absolutely sure. Her reaction as I told her Andrew died was real." Mac answered.

"Well, if you say so I´ll believe it. So, any ideas why he collected the reports about Soap?" Price fished one of the pages from the table and began to read it.

"I don´t know exactly, these are reports about the last few years, all deal with Soap becoming promoted, how his country celebrated him as a hero, his ribbons he got and Interviews with him about how he killed Zakhaev but I don´t understand why he blackened all the pictures." Mac explained and turned his attention to the Police officer.

"You said the cameras are all over the town? Mind if we take a look where the truck went after it left the base?"

The Officer nodded and called one of his assistants to tell him he should check the tapes. He described the truck and assured him to send him a picture of the man they were looking for. In the meantime Mac got a call from one of his informants, who told him Andrew is on the list of Interpol's Most Wanted. He stole important Intel from the British Government and was suspected to have connections to a Russian terror cell. Before he came back to Britain he stayed on the Arabian Peninsula for a few months, where he was seen in Makarovs presence and spent a few days in the Czech Republic. Mac told his informant he should check what Andrew did the last six years, he needed to know everything. As he hung up the phone Price got a clue.

"I think I know where I have seen him." He announced.

"Where?" Mac asked short.

"As I got arrested I´m pretty sure I saw him standing in front of this hotel, talking to a Police Officer."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty."

"That means he must have watched us. Meat I need you to go to my office, on my desk should be a note with the number of the Hospital Soap was in. Please call them and ask about a doctor named Kucera." Mac ordered and Meat left the room after he nodded.

"Why don´t we ask Anna if she heard something. Maybe they talked about their plans in front of her." Roach asked Price.

"Fine. I go and see if she is able to tell me anything." The addressed answered and left the room.

"Come on Ghost, we should check if we found something about his intends in these papers." Roach patted his friend on the back and both sat down, studying the papers.

* * *

Price quickly arrived at the room Anna was in. He knocked softly on the door and stepped in. His wife turned her attention from her daughter to her husband. She smiled and stood up from the chair she was sitting all the time, not taking her eyes off her daughter and stepped closer to Price.

"She´s still asleep?" Price asked, looking at his daughter.

"Yes, she will need more time to rest. The capture was a dramatic event. Why do you ask?"

"I need to talk to her."

"That´s all? I thought you came here ´cause you worried about her, I guess I was wrong again." Gisela shot Price a look of reproach.

Price sighted heavily and shook his head. Why was she mad at him? He should be the one being made at her. She was the one cheating on him and now he´s the one to blame for everything? Didn´t his wife see that it wasn´t easy for him to act like a professional soldier when his family was around? Sure he cared about his daughter and more than anything else it broke his heart to know the capture would affect her for the rest of her live but he needed to be strong. He wouldn´t bore to loose Soap now, not after he just survived. He tried to restrain his composure and keep those thoughts out of his mind. Soap and his daughter needed him fully presented with all of his power he had.

"Of course I care about her you know that better than anyone else but Soap is in danger and maybe she has important information for us." Price said, stepping closer on to his daughter.

"Soap? You mean the young man who served with you in the S.A.S? What happened?" Gisela asked now truly concerned.

"He got captured too and we are pretty sure it were the same people that kidnapped Anna."

"So you want to know if she heard the men talk about Soap?"

"Right. I always loved your ability to put one and one together." Price smiled weakly at Gisela.

"John…" She started to say but was interrupted as Price raised one of his hands in the air.

"It´s okay. No need to explain or apologize. At least not now."

Gisela closed his mouth and silently agreed with him. It wasn´t the right time to talk about their marital problems, the most important thing was to rescue her husband's best friend. Gisela stepped up to her daughter and shook her lightly on her shoulder. Anna moaned and pulled the blanket over her head. Gisela sight and shook her harder, she knew it was difficult to get Anna out of the bed. Her daughter always was a late riser. Anna moaned again but kept her eyes closed. Gisela rolled her eyes in annoyance and with a twitch she pulled the blanket out of the bed.

Anna wanted to describe her anger full-throated as she realized her dad was with her in the room. She just mumbled something and swung his legs out of the bed. She rubbed her eyes and yawned loudly.

"What´s wrong? Did anything happen." She asked still half asleep.

Price looked at his daughter a little amused. She still was the little girl he knew.

"You´re dad´s gonna ask you something sweetheart. Would you mind answer his questions?" Gisela asked smiling.

"No, it´s okay. What do you want to know?" Anna stopped rubbing her eyes and waited for Price to start questioning.

"First I want to give you this back." Price said and gave his daughter her bracelet back.

Anna took it with shining eyes and hugged her father. She immediately tied it around her wrist and looked back at her dad.

"And second I need to know if your kidnappers have ever mentioned anything about another abduction."

"No, I can´t remember anything like that. I´m sorry."

"It´s okay, not your fault. Does the name Andrew tell you something?"

"Andrew? Yes, I´ve heard that name but let me think about it."

Anna crossed her arms and tilted her head aside. She sat there for a few minutes as her eyes lit up. She could remember.

"There was a man in there with a name badge. I´m sure I read Andrew on it."

"What else? Did the others talk about him?" Price´s mood got better, maybe he was about to get closer on to Andrew.

"Yes, the man who stole my bracelet told me this Andrew guy was going to get his revenge for what the world had done to him and that someone had to pay. He also mentioned a woman. He said Andrew could only get his revenge ´cause she helped him."

"Are you sure he said exactly these words?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well, thanks. That helps us a lot. You should rest some more."

* * *

Price shot up from the chair, smiled at his daughter, nodded to his wife and left the room. Back at the conference room he walked straight up to MacMillian and looked at him worried.

"Are you alright Price?" Mac asked.

"Yeah, I´m fine. I was talking to Anna and she gave me some very interesting information."

"She knew something about Soap´s kidnap?" Ghost asked hopefully.

Price just shook his head and Ghost lost all of his hope again.

"But she told me she had seen this Andrew. He was there and another man told Anna Andrew wants to get revenge what the world had done to him."

"What does this mean?" Mac wondered and thought about the words Price had spoken.

"I don´t know exactly but she told me something more important."

"Come on tell us the full story John. I´m curious about it."

Price closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"He said the reason why Andrew is able to get his revenge is ´cause he got help from a woman." Price stated and everyone went silent.

Price opened his eyes again, looking in the shocked face of Mac. He knew his friend was aware of who the man meant. Mac shook his head and let himself slip onto a chair. He stared in the air and didn´t know what to say. This wasn´t possible, she never would betray him or his team. Mac looked around and saw that everyone avoided to look at him. He turned his head to look at Price but his attention got caught from Ghost. Mac noticed he was standing there, head lowered and fists clenching. He felt the Lieutenant was angry, he could almost see him implode.

_No, that´s a lie. She wouldn´t do this. She was the nicest and innocents person he ever met. She always made him laugh and made him feel like a normal human. This can´t be true. Did she fool him all the time? Was she now making fun of him? Was she laughing at him for telling her he liked her and would miss her? Was that the reason she didn´t tell him she worked for MacMillian? Were his sorrows about her being save just a waste of time? Ghost thoughts flipped over and he couldn´t stand the silence in this room. He needed to get out of there to get his mind free, full of anger he wasn´t a good help anyways._

Ghost clenched his fists to hold his anger back, raised his head and stormed out of the room. He heard Roach scream after him and Mac screaming at Roach but he didn´t understand the words they were saying. Right now he didn´t even care. He needed to let his anger out.


	16. Hiding the truth?

Chapter 16 is up. Thanks to all of my Readers and thanks to Donakiko for your Reviews, they are really wonderfull and I hope I can uptade regular to Keep this Story interesting. Now enjoy this chapter and leave a Review:)

* * *

"That´s my story." Julia ended her explanation.

She had told Soap everything, including that she was the one saving him in Prague. Now she waited for any response from him but he just sat there, eyes closed and didn´t say anything. Julia wondered if she had said something wrong, something that had upset him. She was about to open her mouth again as she heard him chuckle. She raised her eyebrows in disbelief. Did he think it was funny? Didn´t he get the gravity of the situation they were in? She shook her head and was about to stand up as he began to speak.

"You´re a little crazy you know? I don´t know a single person, except soldiers, that would sacrifice itself only to save someone they don´t even know. What was going through your mind as you saw me lying there? You must have seen that I was already dead and still you put yourself in danger." He shook his head and opened his eyes, staring at her with a weak smile.

"I want to be honest with you ´cause I think you deserve it. All the time I was in hospital and even a few hours ago I told myself that I would blame you, you just saved me ´cause you wanted to see me suffer. I mean I was dead for about four minutes and I´m sure you know what consequences the lack of oxygen would cause to my brain but now I see that you´re just an altruist. I also can see why Ghost fell in love with you, you´re somehow cute in your own way and as you spoke I tried to find something on you I don´t like but till now I haven´t found out what. So thanks for saving my arse."

Julia looked away from him a little embarrassed.

"No need to thank me for that. You know sometimes I forget to think about thinks before I act that´s why I put myself in danger so much. Of course I´m aware of the consequences lack of oxygen could cause but in this situation I didn´t think about this or about our orders not to put ourselves in danger. I just acted the way I´m happy." She answered him and tried to look him in the eyes again as she remembered what he had just said about Ghost.

"But there´s one thing you must have gotten wrong. Ghost´s not in love with me. Who said that anyway? We´re just friends nothing more."

Julia looked at him very curious, at least she tried to. She couldn´t hide a little smile and Soap chuckled again.

"You know what? That are exactly the words Ghost used as he tried to deny it."

"There´s nothing do deny. As I told you he´s not in love with me and I´m not in love with him." Julia stated and crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking offended.

"Whatever you say." Soap just answered and smiled at her widely.

Thereupon she shook her head, mumbled something and stood up, walking to one corner of the room where a mattress was lying. She grabbed it and pulled it next to Soap.

"You should rest a bit." She shortly said and walked back to the corner.

Soap watched her leaning against the wall and closing her eyes. He wanted to say something to her but instead he sighted and rolled himself over to lay down on the mattress. Only God knows how long it would take till this Andrew came back.

Soap closed his eyes and tried to rest a bit but his thoughts drifted to Price and his Team. _What were they doing right now? They were searching for him, he was sure of that, but did they know where to search? Did they already know where he was? He wondered if they had rescued Prices daughter and if they were all okay. He asked himself why he even trusted Andrew. He had have a bad feeling about him, as he saw him on base. Why didn´t he listen to that feeling? He never was that naive, but in one case Andrew didn´t lie to him. He met his live-safer and that was all Andrew promised him but why did he got captured? Has he ever met him before? He couldn´t remember. The next thing he wondered was why he captured him in this place? Sure, Soap had good memories with this place but he could tell that wasn´t the reason he was here. Andrew must have chosen this place ´cause it has something to do with him, not with Soap._

Soap let out a deep breath and then an idea crossed his mind.

"Julia?" He called her and lifted his upper part of his body, looking at her.

She opened her eyes and looked at him questioning.

"Why are you here?"

He felt her getting nervous. She widened her eyes and seemed to think about the right answer. After a few seconds she shook her head and looked down to her feet.

"I can´t tell you I´m sorry. It´s too personal."

Soap wanted to tell her that this answer was ridiculous, that they could lose their lives in here and nothing´s too personal in their situation, but he didn´t response. He could tell she was getting sad about his question, so he just laid down again and closed his eyes, falling asleep after a while.

Tears started to run down her cheeks. _She felt guilty and ashamed at the same time. Why didn´t she tell him the truth? How did she get so scared? Andrew wasn´t here with her, she should have told Soap the truth, but she had a feeling that Andrew was watching her. Besides she had to stay with Soap in here maybe for a few days and if she would tell him the truth he might get angry at her. Sure, he was bond and couldn´t move freely but his avoiding against her alone was reason enough to not tell him her part in this event. She closed her eyes and hoped someone would come and end this nightmare._

* * *

Ghost was at the shooting range for about three hours now. He needed to calm down from all what has happened in the last few days. It was all so surreal to him. He never imagined he would ever feel so desperate again. In the past few years he never let anyone touch his heart easily, even MacTavish has had his problems to get accepted from Ghost as a captain and as a friend, but as the ice broke the Scot became one of his best friends. Of course Roach was also one of his best friends but who didn´t love the little bug? Ghost smiled weakly, Roach was that much concentrated on his burn marks in his face that he even not realized that the guys didn´t act different in his presence. They accepted him for what he was and not for what he looked like.

Ghost shook his head and his smile disappeared. His thoughts again drifted to Julia. Did she really help Andrew? Was all she told him and the time they spent together a lie? Was she a cold hearted bitch? A part of Ghost´s mind didn´t believe it and the only thing they sure knew was that Andrew got help from a woman. It doesn´t mean it was Julia who helped him, maybe there was another woman involved.

He laid his weapon down. He couldn´t calm down now completely and so he decided to head back in the building, take a shower and then help the others to find Soap. He walked away from the shooting range, hoping Julia wasn´t on Andrew`s side. If she was he would do anything to stop her.


	17. His intends

Here´s chapter 17. Again I wanted to thank Donakiko for the review. It really cheered me up to continue this story as fast as I could and I hope you like the chapter. So now everybody enjoy reading this. Reviews are welcome. :)

* * *

„It means he doesn´t like how he looked. "

"No, he is jealous about his rank."

"Maybe he doesn´t like his eyes."

"Or he´s unhealthy attracted to him."

Roach shook his head. Meat and Royce were arguing about the blackened pictures of their Captain for almost an hour now. They came up with ridiculous theories such as Andrew was the Captains lover. Even if they were in a serious situation Roach couldn´t help but smile at the crazy thoughts of his teammates. Till now them haven´t had the slightest clue why and where Soap was captured. They read over the papers again and again but couldn´t understand their meanings. The only thing they knew for sure was that the truck left the town, which they had seen on the traffic supervision tapes.

They all tried their best to work accurate but all of them were tired, who could blame them for it? They still felt the exhausting of Anna´s rescue. Mac had told them they should take a brake if it gets too much but none of them wanted to leave the work on others and so everyone had their own way to fight against the fatigue. Most of them drank coffee or Energy Drinks, others went out for a walk, to get their mind free and let the fresh air activate their weak bodies.

Roach was worried about Ghost. He hadn´t seen him since he stormed out of the room. At first Roach wanted to get him back in there but Mac and Price told him he should let Ghost abreact. Roach could imagine how Ghost was feeling, Roach liked Julia too but he hadn´t spent as much time with her as Ghost. Ghost had told Roach he had seen her every day since he woke up from his coma and Roach knew Julia got a part of Ghost´s heart.

Roach shook his head again. The most important thing now was to rescue their Captain, about Julia he could worry later. He stood up and walked to a bulletin board where they had pinned all the pictures. Roach studied them and noticed that not only Soap´s face was blackened, his ribbons were blackened too. He stared at the pictures like he was going to tell them they should talk to him what Andrew intended with this.

"Meat?"

The named turned around and looked at Roach.

"Yeah, what´s up Roach?"

"You said you think Andrew is jealous about Soap´s rank, right? Why do you think that?"

"Well, he blackened all of the Captains ribbons. If you ask me he has some personal problems with Tavish being a captain."

Roach thought about what Meat had said deeply for a moment and out of the sudden he remembered what MacMillian had said as he briefed them about Andrew.

"That´s it Meat, that´s exactly the reason why he blackened him." Roach said hopefully and earned a clouded stare from Meat.

"Whatever you say Roach." He just answered and watched the Sergeant walk up to the General.

"Sir? Do you have some time to listen to me?" Roach asked.

Mac who was talking on the phone put it away from his ear and looked at Roach.

"Got something Sergeant?"

"I think so. You told us Andrew had his problems to subordinate under a Captain right? We noticed he blackened Soap´s face as well as his ribbons. Maybe he is jealous ´cause Tavish got promoted as a Captain and he is still s Lieutenant."

Mac thought about the Sergeants words for a few seconds before he responded.

"That could be true but why on earth did he capture MacTavish? He´s not the only one who got promoted as a Captain the last six years. There must be something else, we need to keep on searching."

* * *

Roach nodded to the General and left him to find something more out. He was about to check the papers again as the door to the conference room swung up loudly. Roach lifted his had with an eased smirk, thinking it was Ghost who came back, but instead his eyes met with Anna´s. She stood in the door, looking embarrassed, she didn´t want to open the door with a loud noise. He could hear her saying Sorry and Gary just nodded and turned his gaze back to the papers, not recognizing Anna stepping up to him and looking him over the shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Anna asked suddenly, making Gary jump a little in surprise.

He turned his head and looked into her smiling face.

"I´m trying to find out what´s the meaning of these papers."

"Hm…." Anna tilted her head and seemed to think about something.

"They were in the room I was captured right?" Gary nodded in response.

"If you ask me they are the key to find out where they capture your friend."

"That´s what we thought but we don´t have any idea where this place should be."

"Oh, that´s hard. Would you mind if I take a look on them?"

"I don´t think you can help us with this. Why are you here anyways? I thought you need to rest."

"Oh, I just wanted to go to toilet and then head back in my room but as I left the bathroom you´re friend Skully scared me and now I´m afraid I could get nightmares of him if I go back to sleep."

Roach raised an eyebrow. What was she talking about?

"Who´s Skully?" he asked her curious.

"You´re friend with this scary Skull Mask."

"You mean Ghost?"

"Oh, his name´s Ghost? I think Skully would better match with him. Why does he wears this Mask anyways?"

"It has to do something about his look."

"His look? Does he look this ugly?"

"No, it´s just people start to stare at him when he takes it off."

"Really? But why don´t you wear a mask?"

"What?" Roach couldn´t believe what he heard.

"You say he wears this thing ´cause people start to stare at him but I´m sure people stare at you too. I mean this burn marks really look strange."

Gary stood there with his mouth open. He wanted to say something to her but was too perplex of her words. He started to feel uncomfortable in his body. Why was she saying such hurting words? Couldn´t she imagine how much pressure it was for himself to look in the mirror and except how he looked. He didn´t need someone around who told him he was unsightly. He was thinking about leaving the room to put himself out of this weird situation as Anna continued to speak.

"What´s wrong with you? You look like you´re going to kill me." She asked him disappointed.

"Do you expect me to give you a hug? You just said that I should wear a mask. I know I look strange but you don´t have to be around me if you´re scared of me." Gary answered her stupid question angrily.

Anna looked down on her hands ashamed.

"I didn´t meant it that way. I just wondered why you don´t wear a mask. I thought you don´t mind if people stare at you. I didn´t want to be rude. I´m sorry."

"Do you think you can take me for a fool? I know you think I´m ugly so don´t try to deny it. I´m not…."

Gary wanted to end his sentence as suddenly Anna stepped up to him, flung her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. Gary stood there with wide eyes, what was she doing? He wanted to push her away as she let off of him, stepped back and smiled bright at him.

"You´re cute. We should go out when this is over." Anna said and left Gary as if nothing had happened.

Gary followed her with his eyes still shocked, as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to look at a very serious Price. Gary swallowed hard, afraid of what his superior would do.

"She´s just as impulsive as her mother." Price said shaking his head.

"Sir?" Gary replied confused.

"Forget it Sergeant just make sure you don´t break her heart ´cause if you do I break your bones."

"But I didn´t want to kiss her. She kissed me out of the sudden. I don´t even know her."

"Whatever you say but remember my words." Price patted him on the shoulder and left a dumbfounded Gary who didn´t know what to think.

* * *

Gary was confused in such a way that he didn´t recognize that Ghost had entered the room, smiling at him amused. As Ghost was right next to him he harrumphed and Roach swept back to Reality.

"You´re still a ladies man, huh?" Ghost asked his friend but Gary just looked at him sour.

"Hey! Don´t be mad at me. I didn´t do anything." Ghost defended himself still smiling.

Gary just mumbled something as response and started to turn his attention back to the papers.

"How´s it going? Did you find something out?" Ghost asked him, studying the papers too.

"Not much, we only found out that Andrew must have a problem with Tavish being a Captain but we don´t know the reason yet."

"That´s not much, but better than nothing." Ghost replied and together they started to proof all of the papers again.

As the hours passed by many of the Soldiers were that much exhausted that they went to sleep, only Ghost and Roach stayed behind. Mac told them they should rest too but both told him they couldn´t relax anyways and so Mac let them do as they wished. In addition Mac allowed them to contact his Task Force, ´cause they were searching for MacTavish and Julia as well.

The two friends were sitting in silence, reading Andrew´s dossier as Mac´s phone began to ring. Both men exchanged a look and then turned their gazes to the phone screen. The display says it was an incoming call from an Angela. Ghost looked at Roach questioning but he just shrugged his shoulder and so Ghost took the phone and answered the call.

Gary listened to the words Ghost spoke, the caller must have some important information ´cause Ghost told her she should wait a sec and turned the speaker on.

"Could you please repeat what you told me?" Ghost asked the caller.

"Well we were searching for anything that Andrew did the last six years. We had found out that Interpol is searching for him, he stole some important Intel from the British Government. I tried to get someone from Interpol on the line what Intel it was but they didn´t give me any answers and so we searched about others crimes committed from Andrew.

We found out that shortly after the incidence on the bridge a hospital nearby reported someone stole first aid equipment and some pain killers. We´re sure it was Andrew because the thief had lost some drops of blood which we now found out they match with Andrew´s DNA.

We also found out about an old lady who said back then she found a young man who was badly injured and she offered him to call a doctor who should check his wounds but the man denied but she let stay him in her house for a night. She also told us one event she will always remember. In the morning she was watching TV as a report of the death of Imran Zakhaev was shown, and they reported about the only man who survived this and about the unit who saved him. She wanted to switch the TV of but Andrew, who just came downstairs told her he wanted to watch it.

She watched him closely and could feel he was getting very angry. The report ended and she was about to ask him what´s wrong as Andrew shot her a killing glance and asked her about some money. She told him he wouldn´t get any of her and as he got angrier she told him she would call the police. She turned around and tried to run to her phone as she got knocked out and crushed to the floor. She didn´t black out immediately and could hear how Andrew said the man who survived needed to pay. Later as she awoke he was gone and her house looked like a mess. He must have searched for some money but didn´t find anything."

"But why did you find this out only now?" Roach asked the woman on the phone and heard her breathing heavily.

"She didn´t go to the police and reported it. She was too afraid he might come back and we could do the blood test only after we searched for any crimes. The hospital sure did a DNA Test but it didn´t match to any wanted persons in their country and they didn´t bother to expand their search in other countries."

"Well, did you find something more?"

"No, I´m sorry. Andrew´s really good to cover his tracks. We´re about to check the hotels in Britain to find out if he stayed in one of them but Andrew´s clever, if he was in a hotel I´m sure he used a pseudonym."

"Ok thanks. At least we know the reason why he captured our Captain. Let us know when you find something out." Ghost told her and wanted to hang up the phone as Angela started to talk again.

"There´s one thing you should know. We also checked where Andrew kidnapped Julia and found out he met with her in a Russian hotel, shortly before she was going to fly to the US. The hotel stuff told us she left with him without any resistance but she left all of her possessions in the hotel, including her laptop. We checked it and found an email from a woman named Natasha; she told Julia she wanted to meet with her and if she would not come she would make sure that one of her friends would die."

"And she just met her? Without telling anybody about this? Why´d she do this? She didn´t even know this woman was telling the truth?" Ghost asked wondering.

"That was my first thought too but this Natasha also send a picture. It showed Julia with you two and another man, on a walk outside."

"What? Are you sure?" Ghost got furious.

"Yes, I´m." She simply replied.

"That must mean they have watched us."

"That´s right. I´m sure this Natasha extorted her with killing one of you."

"So that was all part of their plan, to capture Julia but for what do they need her?"

"That´s one thing we should figure out."

"Well thank you Angela."

"You´re welcome and if I can do something else for you just give me a call. Bye."

Ghost hung up and exchanged a look with Gary.

"We still have to find out where they are."

"That´s right but at least we know Andrew´s intends now."

"You´re right Roach. Come on maybe we really should get some rest and then continue the work. We made big steps ahead." Ghost stood up and walked to the door, followed by Roach.

Ghost opened the door as Roach tapped him on the shoulder and as he turned around he saw his friend smile.

"What´s wrong with you? Something´s funny?" Ghost asked not knowing what was going through his friends mind.

"I just figured out that this Natasha could be the woman who helped Andrew not Julia."

Ghost thought about this words for a few seconds and then began to smile.

"This could be the truth Roach."

Roach nodded in response and both left the room, switching the lights off.


	18. Thank you

„Captain! Captain! Hey, wake up!" Soap felt someone shaking him hard but he didn´t mind and tried to turn away.

"John! Come on wake up! Please!" Soap opened his eyes slowly.

First he looked around confused not knowing where he was, till his memory came slowly back. He tried to lift himself up and felt a hand on his shoulder, helping him in his doing.

"What´s wrong?" He asked still tired.

"I hear footsteps. They´re coming closer." Julia told him and he could hear fear in her voice.

He wanted to say something as he heard the clang from a bunch of keys. He turned his attention to the door, which was opened loudly and two men with guns stepping in.

"Get back." One of them yelled and Julia stood up afraid, walking back to the wall. The one man stepped up to her and positioned himself in front of her, pointing his gun on her chest.

The other one stayed next to the still open door and Soap saw one more man coming into the room, Soap recognized it was Andrew. He smirked evil at Soap and made his way up to him, kneeling in front of him, holding a revolver in his hand.

"She really patched you up!" Andrew reached out and checked the back of Soap´s head.

Soap turned his head in anger, which made Andrew laugh crazy. Andrew grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and slid his revolver from Soaps forehead to his temple. He rested the revolver there for a few seconds before he punched Soap with it. Soap´s head flung to the side and he crashed to the floor, ´cause Andrew loosened his grip on Soap´s collar.

Soap felt incredible pain on the side of his head and felt liquid running down his face. He was sure it was blood as a result of the hard punch Andrew had given him. He moaned, if he wouldn´t be bond he would beat the crap out of this psycho. He wanted to show that he wasn´t weak and sat up again, looking angry in Andrew´s eyes.

"Oh do we put on a strongman act? Well then we´ll see how strong you are when I´m done with you." Andrew told Soap and turned around. Soap relaxed his muscles as Andrew turned around again and kicked him powerful in the stomach. As Soap crumpled forward to the floor he could hear Julia scream to Andrew he should stop this.

The addressed just started to laugh insane and gave a sign to his accessory. Only seconds later Julia was dragged next to him, kneeling on the floor and a gun pointed to her head. He shot her a look and as their eyes met he saw incredible fear in hers. He was about to open his mouth and yell at Andrew he should let her go as Andrew stepped up to Julia and put one hand under her chin. Andrew still smirked and turned his look to Soap.

"I´m sure you didn´t expect this." Andrew told him and Soap couldn´t trust his eyes of what he saw next.

* * *

Andrew turned his gaze back to Julia and suddenly he kissed her hard on her lips. Soap widened his eyes, he wondered what was going on here? For Soap it seemed like minutes till their lips tore apart again and Andrew once again started to laugh like he was crazy.

"Oh my dear Captain. I forgot she didn´t tell you; my mistake. She told you it was too personal for you. Well let me explain it. Our lovely Julia here is my girlfriend."

Soap looked at him in shock.

"What?" Was all he could say.

"Yes, come on honey tell him the truth." Andrew answered looking at Julia.

She first stayed silent, thinking about something till she opened her mouth.

"Yes, that´s true." She simply said and looked tortured at Soap.

Soap just stared at her. What was going on here? Why did he capture his own girlfriend? To Soap it made no sense. Was she part of his psycho games? Soap had so many questions in his mind right now.

"What? You have nothing to say to this? I thought you´re such a great Captain, one who does everything for his team and now you´re afraid of the fact that she´s my girlfriend?" Andrew asked still laughing.

"Why do you do this?" Soap asked full of anger and curiosity, focusing on Andrew.

"Why? You ask me why?" Andrew got angry and once more he grabbed Soap by his collar.

"You remember Imran Zakhaev? You remember who saved you? You remember they told you you´re the only one who survived? Oh, they were wrong. I survived too that day. I was there to cover your back. I was the one who had a dangerous job to do then you or anybody else. And what was the result? You got rescued from this Russian and I was left behind. You got celebrated as a hero but nobody talked about me. The world doesn´t even know what I have done to stop this madness. So tell me Captain who deserved it more to get promoted. You or me?"

Andrew looked at Soap still angry, his crazy eyes open wide. Soap thought about his words for a while and then shook his head. He didn´t know what to answer this man. Somehow he was right but that was no reason for him to do self-revenge. He looked Andrew intensively in the eyes but kept his mouth shut. He knew no matter what he would say this man was out of his mind and wouldn´t listen to him anyways.

Andrew breathed heavily and let off of Soap, turning his attention back to Julia.

"What about you? Do you have anything to say to this?" He yelled at her in anger but she just shook her head, which made Andrew even angrier and he punched her in her face, sending her roughly to the floor. As she winced Andrew grabbed her hair and pulled her up to her feet. He glanced dangerously at her.

"Of all the people I know I thought at least you would understand how I feel. What happened to you? Where´s the fun-loving woman who always backed me up and agreed with me?" He asked her still pulling on her hairs.

"I´m still that person but you have changed Andrew. You´re not longer the gorgeous man I fell in love with. You became a monster Andrew." She answered him dismissive.

They stood there in silence for a while before Andrew started to laugh again, releasing her from his grip.

"Let me proof you I haven´t change. Come with me out of this room and I show you the real me." He told her calmly and tried to sound trustful but Julia shook her head.

"I´m staying here Andrew. I know that you and Natasha are in love with each other." She stated.

"Did she tell you this?" Andrew asked bewildered and Julia nodded.

"That´s a lie. Sure I kissed her and slept with her a few times but I did this with much more women the last six years. I´m sure you understand that, I mean look at me I´m an extremely attractive man and I also have my needs but none of them compared to you. Well I have to admit they were all more beautifully than you are but let´s be honest it´s not hard to see that you look more like a boy than a woman. But you are special, you´re the only person I know who cares more about others than herself. You´re the only woman who loved me as every other girl told me I was a freak. You were the only one who loved me for who I´m and not for how I look. So would you please come with me?"

Andrew held one of his hands out, waiting for her to take it. Soap looked confused from Andrew to Julia. What was she going to do?

"I´m not coming with you Andrew. I can´t approve what you´re doing." Julia said and as a response she earned another punch from Andrew, sending her to the floor again.

"Stupid girl. Don´t expect me to accept your decision. We will see who got your back when this is getting harder." Andrew said coldly and he and his men left the room again, locking the door.

* * *

Soap was still crumpled to the floor, staring on the floor. He wondered if she was now his girlfriend or not. Andrew kissed her and she told him she was his girlfriend but then again she asked if another woman was his girlfriend. This was really weird.

Soap saw from the corner of his eyes Julia standing up slowly, whipping tears of pain out of her eyes, taking some more pads from the table and walking up to Soap. She kneeled in front of him and swept the blood away that was running down his face. He let her finish her work before he began to speak.

"What was that all about? Is he now your boyfriend or not?" Julia looked at him concerned, sighing but answered his question.

"He was my boyfriend till he got "killed" in 2011." She said and tried to smile but failed and tears built up again in her eyes. She wanted to turn away from Soap but he somehow managed to grab one of her hands and pulled her onto his chest. He felt her tears running down her cheeks and heard her sob.

"It must be hard for you to know he was alive and didn´t tell you all the time." Soap whispered to her and she nodded.

"But why are you here and why didn´t you go with him? It would be safer for you."

"I´m here ´cause this Natasha extorted me by telling me she would kill Ghost or Roach if I wouldn´t meet with her and so I did what she told me. I didn´t know I would meet Andrew at the venue and at first I couldn´t trust my eyes. My first impulse was to kiss him and hug him but then I realized that he wasn´t the man anymore I knew. They forced me to come with them without any resistance, telling me they would kill Simon or Gary. I had no other chance." She whispered back.

"And I didn´t go with him ´cause you need me to patch you up. I can´t leave you alone in here, who knows what Andrew´s going to do next. Besides I´m sure Simon and Gary would rip me my head off if I´m leaving you alone and then I can´t proof you that Ghost and I are just friends, no lovers."

Soap had to smile after that comment of her. He was once more amazed of the woman now leaning on his chest. He squeezed her hand lightly and whispered in her ear.

"Thank you."


	19. That s the Place and the Time

"Captain Price?" The Officer asked him as he offered him a handshake.

"Yes, that´s me." Price answered shaking the offered hand.

"Good to see you. I´m Sergeant Miller." The man introduced himself.

"Your Chief told us you found the truck." Price asked the young, auburn haired Sergeant, as they started walking.

"Yes, we´re about to bring him up. They drove it into the river, I´m sure they thought it would freeze soon." The Sergeant explained, stopping a few meters away from the river.

"And how did you find it?" Price asked doubtful.

"We got a call from a group of teenagers who saw the truck floating on the water surface."

"A group of teenagers out here?" Price raised an eye brow looking around.

They were two kilometers out of town. Far and wide he only saw some fields, the river and the federal highway. Price couldn´t imagine what a bunch of teenagers was doing out here. It was a bleakly place.

"The teenagers meet here often to party. Out here no one would disturb them and they could be as loud as the want to be." The Officer answered his question, smiling weakly as Price shrugged his shoulders and turned his gaze back to the crane, which was bringing the truck out of the water.

As the truck touched the shore Price stepped up to it and first checked it from the outside. The number plate revealed to him this was the right truck. He rounded the vehicle, looking in every ran down window, if some signs were left in it, but he had no luck. If they left something in it, it was washed away by the ingress of moisture.

He opened the front passengers door and stepped back to let the water come out of the truck. As the water stopped running out he tried to open the glove compartment, but it was locked. He pulled harder on it but couldn´t open it. He let out a sigh, erected his head and searched for Scarecrow, who had come with him. He found him a few meters away from him, talking to a Police Officer.

"Scarecrow? I need you to open the glove compartment, it´s locked." Price shouted to the soldier.

Scarecrow nodded, thanked the Officer and walked up to Price. Price stepped aside and let him do his work. A few minutes and a few swears from the soldier later Price heard a click and Scarecrow opened the compartment. Price looked into it, but it was empty. The only thing in there was an accurate folded piece of paper. Price reached for it and unfolded the note. On it was just the number 2601 and a hangman below it. Price couldn´t understand the meaning of this number but decided to take the note with him.

He once more checked the whole vehicle before he stepped back to the Sergeant, who welcomed him. He told him about the note and the Sergeant assured him he would give Price a call if they found something, after they dismantled the vehicle and checked the river. Price thanked him and was looking for Poet, who was also with him and Scarecrow.

He found him in front of the road block, arguing with a woman in a red cabriole. As Price stepped closer he could hear her say that she needed to drive through the block to go back home. Poet just wanted to tell her she couldn´t pass the street as Price put a hand on the soldiers shoulder and gestured him he would take care of it. After Poet had left the car and walked away Price leaned down to look in the eyes of the woman.

She was in her late twenties with short blond hairs and blue eyes. She was looking very angry at Price but he smiled at her, rubbing his neck.

"Where do you want to go?" He asked her in a friendly tone.

"I just want to drive home Officer." She answered still angry. Price recognized she was speaking with a Russian accent.

"You´re not from here?" He asked her still smiling.

"As you can hear no. I moved over to England only a few weeks ago."

"Really? Why?"

"That´s none of your business, Sir. Would you know please let me drive through?"

"As you see the road is closed. What were you doing in the town anyways?"

"I went shopping." Was her short answer.

Price sighted heavily and took a look on her backseats. He saw some shopping bags from a nearby supermarket. He turned his gaze back to the woman, which was now looking out of her windscreen.

"Did someone get murdered?" She asked not turning her gaze.

"No, just some investigations." Price answered following her gaze.

"About what?" She now asked very interested.

"None of your business ma'am. " Price told her and he could hear her sigh in disappointment.

He studied her a few seconds before he took in a deep breath.

"You can drive through if you want." He told her, getting her attention back.

"Well thanks Mr." She answered, turned her car on and without another word she drove fast past the block.

Price watched the car disappear, called Poet and Scarecrow and the three men left the scene too. They had to go back to base. Maybe the others had finally found something important.

* * *

"Hey Meat? The General had told you to check on some doctor in the hospital Soap was in." Roach asked as they sat together in the dining hall for breakfast.

"Aye." Meat answered, shoveling some scrambled eggs into his mouth.

"Do you know why?" Roach kept on asking.

Meat swallowed his meal, drank some water and started talking.

"He wanted to know if the doctor really worked in the hospital. As I called they told me they had a doctor called Kucera but he wasn´t at work the last few days. I was about to ask them for his home number as the nurse on the phone told me to wait a sec and as she came back to the phone she told me the dead body of the doctor was found. She also told me he must been dead for a few days, that´s what the doctor who checked the dead reported her."

Meat took another sip from his water and continued.

"As I told it to the General he mentioned that he got a call from this Kucera the day we recruited and he told him about Soaps mental state. He also said he´s sure now that it was Andrew who called him and that it was part of his plan to get Soap captured."

Meat ended his explanation and looked up to Roach. The Sergeant rubbed his chin in deep thoughts.

"If that´s true and it was Andrew who called the General then it could be that he captured Anna only to lure us away from base. So he had enough time to capture the Captain without any incidents."

Roach locked eyes with Meat and his teammate nodded in response.

"That´s all well and good but it doesn´t helps us to find the Captain." Toad joined the conversation.

"You´re right. That´s why we had to find out what the meaning of this papers is." Ghost throw in as he stood up and started to leave the hall.

Ghost walked through the corridors till he reached the conference room. He opened the door and recognized that the light was on. He was sure Roach turned it off as they left the room hours ago. He wondered if any of the other soldiers was in here as his attention got caught from a sleeping body on the table. He stepped closer and had to smile weakly under his mask. He took a seat next to the sleeping one and shook the person light on the shoulder.

He only earned a small moan for his action and the person kept on sleeping. He shook his head and shook the shoulder once more now with more power. It didn´t took long till the person woke up with a start and looked angry at Ghost. He could feel the person wanted to scream at him but as their eyes met and she recognized who was sitting in front of her she closed her mouth again and turned away embarrassed.

Ghost´s smile grew wider and he couldn´t hold back a giggle. Anna gasped loudly and tried to shoot Ghost a serious look. Ghost´s giggles turned down and he cleared his throat.

"Sorry for waking you up but what are you doing here?" He asked her, recognizing she slept on the papers.

"I just wanted to check if I could find out something." She shortly answered him and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Found something?" Ghost asked her very serious, leaning over the papers.

Anna looked at him confused. She didn´t think it would be that easy to talk to him. She thought he was one of those bad ass guys, who enjoyed to scare other people, but she had to admit that the man was very nice and handsome.

"Well, the only thing I figured out is that in every report the same place is mentioned." She answered him, looking at the papers too.

"Really? What place?" Ghost was amazed. Roach and he read over the papers for hours but didn´t recognized that fact.

"The place where your friend got promoted." She answered and showed him the lines the information was in.

Ghost read it and then got a clue.

"What if this is the place Andrew hold them captive?" Ghost spoke his thoughts loud, looking in Anna´s eyes.

* * *

She was about to response to him as the door to the room was opened and Price stepped in, followed by Mac and the rest of the Task Force. Ghost shot up from his chair, saluted quickly and sat down again. The others did the same and they all together sat around the table.

"John? Did you find something?" Mac asked and everyone turned his attention to Price.

The addressed stood up from his chair and gave the note to his old friend. "That´s the only thing but we haven´t figured out what this number means."

Price seated himself again, waiting for any response from the General.

"2601? I have no clue either. Have we something else?" The General asked looking around.

"Sir?" Ghost asked and stood up. He earned a nod from Mac and continued.

"Anna read over the papers and she found out that in every report the place Soap got promoted was mentioned. Could it be that he hold them captive there?" Ghost asked hopeful.

Mac thought about it for a moment and nodded.

"This could be. The place isn´t far away from here and it´s closed for five years now. It would be a good hideout but we can´t just go there without any concrete sign." Mac answered and Ghost sat back disappointed.

They all sat there in silence for a moment as Mac got a call from a member of his Task Force. He exchanged a few words with the person on the other side before he hung up again.

"I got a call from Angela. She told me they found out who´s this Natasha Andrew got help from. She sends me a picture." Mac announced and as he ended the picture was already send.

He opened the e-mail with the picture in it and the woman was shown on the screen. They all looked at the picture curious as Poet shot up from his chair fast, making it to crush on the floor. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy.

"Captain Price? Isn´t that the woman we saw in the red cabriole?" Poet asked in disbelief.

Price turned his gaze away from Poet back to the picture and his eyes lightened up.

"You´re right that was she. Damn, why didn´t we stop her?" Price clenched his fist in anger.

"Cool down John. You didn´t know who she was but tell me do you remember where she drove to?" Mac tried to calm his friend down.

"She told us she wanted to drive back home. She left the city on the federal highway." Price answered still angry.

"On the federal highway you say?" Mac spoke more to himself then to Price and tipped something in his laptop, till he continued to speak.

"I think you were right about the place. If you follow the federal highway and then drive through a little village you get to the place where Soap got promoted." Mac said and the screen showed the building along with a report about the day Soap got promoted.

"Then we all know what to do right?" Price asked and stood up again, earning a nod from every soldier in the room.

Price was about to tell them they should gear up as he got interrupted by Mac.

"Wait! We can´t just go in there without a plan. This is more dangerous than Anna´s rescue. We first need to figure out the facts about the building and the environment. This is a big place and I´m sure Andrew´s got a lot of men on his side."

"Arthur, are you serious? We don´t have the time to bring up a big plan, who knows what he has already done to Soap!" Price yelled at his superior.

"We won´t help MacTavish at all if we don´t have a plan. I´m sure this Natasha wouldn´t have went to town if they killed him. I know Andrew, I know he waits for a special day or hour to kill him. He always was superstitious." Mac answered calmly.

"But we don´t know for what he waits. We can´t just sit around here and pray for Soap to be okay or do you have an idea for what he waits?" Price still yelled at Mac, keeping eye contact.

Mac replied his look for a short moment before he looked down and shook his head. He knew Price was right but he was the General. He was responsible for this unit. He couldn´t just let them go hoping they would all come back save. Mac shook his head, looking at Price again.

"We don´t go without a plan. That´s an order John." He stated, earning a reproached look from Price, who seated himself back, followed by the other soldiers.

Every one stayed silent for a couple of minutes, till Anna shot up from her chair and checked the note with the number on it. She turned her gaze from the note to the screen and back and then she froze, eyes wide open.

"I think he waits for a specific day." She stated staring at her father.

"Why do you think that?" Price asked her skeptical.

"Look at the date on the report. The day Soap got promoted." Anna told them and every man followed her demand.

Price read the date and then remembered the number on the note. It wasn´t just a number, it was a date. It was the date Soap had good memories with and at the same time it was the date Andrew wanted to set an end to his life.

It was January the 26th. It was tomorrow.


	20. Selfish

Andrew watched his ex-girlfriend leaning on his self-appointed enemy number one, making his hate against him grew even bigger. They were sitting like this since he entered the control room, not moving an inch away from each other. Andrew wondered what they were talking about, he saw their lips move but couldn´t understand a word. His prisoners were really smart, they knew he watched them and so they talked as quietly as they could be.

Andrew clenched his fist; this wasn´t what he planted. He thought the Captain would avoid her if he knew she was his girlfriend, but this turned in a way he didn´t expect. He stared at the scene and all he wanted to do was to kill this man immediately, but this didn´t fit in his great plan. He would let him suffer till tomorrow; even if this would mean he wouldn´t get her back.

Suddenly Andrew felt someone kissing his neck and a hand running threw his hair. He didn't need to turn around to understand Natasha was back. He didn´t let her actions bother him; he could tell from her fast and loudly breathing, what she wanted from him. The woman continued to kiss his neck and her free hand was making its way down his torso, to the edge of his pants, she didn´t even care about the others in the room. As he recognized her fumbling on the button to open it he turned around and shot her an angry glance.

"What? Aren´t you happy to see me?" She asked him, lust swinging in her voice as she tried to kiss him on the mouth.

"Have you bought what I told you?" Andrew didn´t answer her question and pushed her away, earning a disappointed look.

"Of course I have." She stated and tried once more to get his attention back, wrapping her arms around one of his, nestling against it.

"Good! Stay here and watch the Captain!" Andrew pulled his arm out of her embrace and opened the door out of the room.

"Wait! What are you doing?" She asked him getting even more disappointed.

"I´m getting my girlfriend back!" Andrew answered without turning around and left the room.

Natasha stayed back first paralyzed of the words he had said but as the meaning of them crossed her mind she started to scream in anger, throwing a cup, the first thing she could grab, on the closed door, making it burst into thousand pieces. Her action earned confused looks from the men which were still in the room but as she glanced dangerously at them they turned their attention back to the work they were up to. Anna sighted, took a seat and watched the screen. As she saw Julia and Soap still leaning against each other she started to smile. She had found something more interesting to do when Andrew was busy with sweet-talking to his former girlfriend.

* * *

"What do you think he´s doing next?" Soap whispered in Julia´s ear, still holding her hand.

"I don´t know. He´s a psycho, this is all a game for him." She shook her head.

"I´m sure he´s still watching us."

Soap looked up and scanned the room; the camera was really good hidden. If Andrew hadn´t revealed they were watched, by repeating the words Julia had said to Soap before he fell asleep, he wouldn´t have waist only one thought about being controlled. Soap squinted his eyes; there on the ceiling was a little black box, almost too small to see it with the naked eyes. You only recognize it when you´re searching for something like a camera.

Soap turned his gaze away from the small box as he realized Julia was fumbling on the rope his arms were bond with.

"What are you doing?" He asked her bewildered.

"You see that. I´m trying to loosen the rope." Julia answered, deeply concentrated on her work.

Soap shook his head lightly and smiled weakly.

"Have you almost forgot that I tried this too and you were the one telling me to stop ´cause it has no use? I´m sorry to tell you but I don´t think you can open the knot."

"Well, we´ll see. My fingers smaller and slighter than your big shovel-like bear paws. Plus I don´t bite my fingernails." She replied showing him an amused smile.

"I only bite them when I´m in deep thoughts."

"You must be thinking a lot then."

Soap inspected his nails and for the first time he recognized he had bite them much more the last few months than he ever did before. Julia was right, he was thinking about so many things the last time, things he never agonized about. He even couldn´t get his mind free when he was around other peoples. He realized how rude this behavior must work on other people.

_He wondered if his preoccupation in thoughts would affect the way he acted around others. He also asked himself if this thinking about unimportant stuff had made him an easy target for Andrew. If he had his mind free that day Andrew stood in front of his room, he would be care fuller. He would have thought twice before he trusted him, but his thoughts were too self-obsessed. He only wanted to satisfy his own curiosity, his feelings that he forgot to think about what his actions would cause to his teammates. He wanted to know the truth about his survival so badly he forgot his teammates wanted to know it with the same intensity. _

"Hey John? Do you listen?" His thoughts got interrupted as he felt Julia´s breath on his ear.

He looked at her puzzled, what had she said? He didn´t know, again he was lost in his thoughts.

He shook his head. "I´m sorry what have you said?"

"I told you I loosened the rope a bit but it´s not enough for you to slip out of it. I´m sorry." She whispered obviously disappointed.

"It´s okay. It´s better than nothing. Maybe if I move my hands the rope stretches out more." He whispered back, moving his hands slowly and tiny.

"You look crestfallen. What´s wrong?" She asked him silently, watching him in his movement.

Soap sighted heavily and stopped in his actions.

"I was just thinking about how selfish I was." He said looking down.

"Why?" She asked worried.

"I did go with Andrew without thinking about the others. I just thought about me and my feelings. I didn´t think about their wishes and sorrows. I was so excited to meet you, my live-saver, that I forgot the others wanted to meet theirs too. I never was the one who just thought about himself, I always cared for the others and now look at me. My biggest sorrow is what Andrew´s doing to me, but it should be what he´s doing to you. You´re just a prisoner in here. Sure you´re part of a Task Force but you're just a Nurse and I´m a Captain. I´m higher ranked and it should be my only desire to get you out of here save." Soap whispered still looking to the floor, laughing sardonic.

"Look at me. Even now I´m complaining to you about my hurt feelings without asking you how you feel." As he spoke the last words he looked up to her.

He expected her to look puzzled at him. He was even prepared that she would yell at him, telling him how mean he was, but she just sat there still the same expression on her face. He studied her with an eye brow raised. What was she going to do?

Julia just shook her head, smiling. "It´s okay."

"What?" he answered in disbelief.

"It´s okay that you're selfish. You can´t always just think of others; it would kill you some day. Of course you´re a Captain and you´re responsible for the soldiers who serve under you but right now you´re just a prisoner like I´m.

If it wouldn´t be allowed to think selfish in this situation when else would it be? I know you expected me to explode in anger and tell you what big jerk you are, but I only stay calm ´cause I think more about you being save than me and don´t tell me to stop thinking this. I always cared more about others than about myself. A lot of people told me to be more selfish sometimes and I tried but I can´t. That´s the biggest weakness I have so please keep this selfish attitude. Sometimes it´s the best thing you can do." She said with a big grin.

Soap let the words sink in and wanted to answer but couldn´t find the right words. She told him he should keep this ability? He never thought about selfishness as an ability, he more thought about it as a bad attitude. He shook his head smiling. Just as he thought her wouldn´t surprise him anymore she did it again.

_Women! When you think you understand them, they show you how wrong you were. Man, I want to meet a single man who understands the world of a woman._

* * *

Soap took a deep breath and was about to say something as he heard someone unlocking the door. He turned his gaze away from Julia, who was standing up as she heard the door getting unlocked, to the door. His first guess was that Andrew had come back to continue his torture on him but as the door opened just his two soldiers from before stepped in, making Julia walk back to the wall.

"Come here." One Soldier yelled at Julia, making her twitch in fear.

"Why?" She tried to sound confidence but her shaking voice revealed how afraid she was.

"Andrew wants to see you." The Soldier answered her loudly.

"I told him I won´t come with him." Julia stated now with anger in her voice.

"He said if you´re not coming voluntary we should make you." The Soldier nodded to his Partner, who stepped up to Soap and bunched him with the back of his shotgun in his stomach, making Soap crash to the floor once more.

"Stop it!" Julia yelled at him and run over to Soap to check if he was okay.

"I´m fine don´t worry." Soap answered her and pushed her away from him.

"We´ll leave him alone if you come with us, but if you refuse Andrew told us to beat the crap out of him. It´s your choice." The Soldier next to the door told her.

Julia looked down at Soap, seeing his face wreathing in pain. She swallowed hard, what should she do? Should she act more selfish, like she told Soap he was allowed to in this situation? She shook her head. No, she couldn´t. She saw in Soap´s eyes that he was pleading to her to just think about herself and not about him, but she couldn´t and he knew it.

"I´m coming with you." She stated still looking at Soap as the one Soldier dragged her out of the room, leaving a headshaking, frantically Captain behind.


	21. Love?

**Chapter 21 is up and I hope you like it. Thanks again to Donakiko for the reviews, I can´t tell you how happy I´m that you love this story and always figure out what´s going to happen next. **

**I also wanted to thank all the readers, followers and the ones of you who favourised the story, I really appreciate it. So but that´s enough for now, enjoy the chapter:**-)

* * *

„I knew you would come! " Andrew welcomed her with this words as Julia got dragged to the room he was waiting for her.

"I had no other choice." She answered him annoyed and checked the room the Soldier had brought her in. It was big with a table in the middle, on which she saw two place settings and some food, a bed on one wall and different types of desks and sideboards. The three windows in the room were blocked with wooden beams. Andrew was standing in front of a bulletin board where pictures were pinned on.

"Why don´t you take a seat?" Andrew asked her not turning around.

"No, I don´t want to." Julia replied peering to the Soldier still standing next to her, recognizing he was staring at Andrew, waiting for an order.

"It wasn´t a request." Andrew said and his soldier forced Julia to sit down on the table, making her do what he said without any resistance. As Andrew heard the moving of the chair he turned around and gave his Soldier a nod to leave the room. The Soldier did as his superior gestured him and left the room without another word.

"You must be hungry!" Andrew said as he walked over to the table and seated himself opposite of her, staring at her intensely.

"What do you want Andrew?" She asked him suspicious, making him smile weirdly.

"I just want to spend some time with you." He replied, filling the two glasses with wine. "Come on, drink with me." He raised one glass and handed it to her.

"You know I don´t drink alcohol." She reminded him putting the glass in front of her on the table.

"I guess some things never change." He simply said, putting some of the food on his plate.

"You really should eat something. You must be scarfing." Andrew added, beginning to eat.

As on cue Julia´s stomach began to rumble, making Andrew smile brightly. Julia let out an annoying sound, took a deep breath and put herself some food on her plate. Both sat there in silence, eating while Andrew kept staring at her and Julia stared on her plate. As Julia had emptied her plate she pushed it away a little and stared down on her hands. She didn´t want to look at Andrew, even if she was curious why she was here. What was his point in doing this? What was his plan? Would he kill her in here?

* * *

"Why don´t you look at me?" Julia´s thoughts got interrupted.

"I can´t." She answered shortly.

"You can´t?" As she nodded Andrew raised an eye brow in disbelief.

"You act like I´m some stranger to you. Have you already forgot the perfect time we had?"

Julia shook her head but didn´t say anything.

"What´s the reason then?" Andrew stood up from his chair and walked over to her, crouching down, putting a hand on her left arm, feeling her shiver by his touch.

"You´re afraid of me?" He asked somehow disappointed as she nodded.

"Can you please talk to me? What´s wrong?" He asked starting to caress her arm, hoping her shivering would fade away.

"What´s wrong? Are you serious Andrew? You ask me what´s wrong? Did I capture you and beat you? Did I let you believe I´m dead?" Julia yelled at him, pulling her arm back and looking at him with tears in her eyes.

Andrew sighted, stood up and turned around, avoiding her look. He shook his head and spoke.

"No, you haven´t!"

"See. So please enlighten me why are you doing all this?" Julia replied, headshaking and crossed her arms.

"I already told you this. I want revenge." He said angrily, turned around and props himself on the armrests of her chair, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"Revenge? Andrew that´s ridiculous. It wasn´t MacTavish´s fault that you don´t got rescued. He wasn´t responsible they didn´t pick you up. Why do you blame him? He needed to be saved too."

"But he didn´t deserve it to be a Captain. He didn´t do anything to get this title."

"Andrew that´s insane, you can´t blame him for all that. It wasn´t his choice." Julia now said, getting a bit of her self-confidence back.

"You don´t understand it. I need to do this for my own sake. I´ll kill him and after that I can live a normal life again, together with you." Andrew told her enthusiastically, resting his forehead against hers.

"Together with me?" Julia asked him, shocked of how insane he had become.

"Yes, we can have the life we always wanted. Our own little house with a small garden. Our two kids and a dog. It´s gonna be fantastic." He started to laugh quiet but very mad.

"If that´s still the life you want to live why didn´t you tell me you were alive? Why did you let me believe you died? Why didn´t you come back home?" Julia whispered to him, afraid what her words would cause to him.

Andrew pushed himself away from her, stepping back and spread his arms.

"I wanted to tell you. I really did but I couldn´t. It was too dangerous for you." He explained.

"Dangerous? Why?" She asked standing up.

"I worked for some bad guys, who tested my loyalty. If they would have known that I have a girlfriend they would have forced me to kill you. I just wanted to protect you." He answered her, wrapping her arms around her and pressing her onto his chest.

"I told you I still love you and that´s no lie and I can feel that you still love me too so please give me another chance. I´ll proof my love to you if you want." He whispered her in her ear, making her hairs on the neck stand up.

"Andrew…I…." She began to speak but was cut off as Andrew laid one finger on her lips.

"Remember our last date?" He asked her, resting his head on hers.

"You told me no matter what, you would always love me and I promised you to protect you from every harm. As we stood on the wishing well that day I wished that our love would always exist and that I would spend my whole live with you and now look at us. We were apart for almost six years now and still I love you and you love me, that´s a sign. I´m sure. You know what? When this is over I fulfill the promise I gave you our last night. When this is over I make you my wife. What do you say?" He pushed her away a bit, to look her in the eyes, waiting for any response from her.

Julia stood there with her mouth wide open, thinking about his words.

_Was he serious about that? Would he really marry her? She didn´t know, she didn´t even know if she loved him anymore. Did he love her actually? Or was this all part of his game? Was he just sweet-talking to her, to get her away from Soap, so his men could torture him? And what about Ghost? Did she love HIM? Or was he just a friend? She didn´t know any longer. _

She closed her eyes and concentrated on her feelings she had for the man in front of her. She stood like this a few seconds, before she knew what she was going to do, even if this would mean she would put herself in a tricky, for others not understandable situation. As she opened her eyes again and locked eyes with Andrew she took her chance. She wrapped her arms around his neck, smiled at him and kissed him passionate on the lips, soon making out with him.

Andrew smirked. He got her back and he knew exactly what he would do with her that night and he knew he would enjoy it.


	22. Abuse?

„Sir, I have the footprint of the building. " Roach announced as he entered the conference room.

He laid the piece of paper in front of the General and took a seat next to him. The last two hours they had spent their time to get that footprint, check their equipment and watching videos about the geological fact around the building. Gary felt an almost unbearable tension in the room, everyone was busy to complete their arrangements. He smiled weakly; that was like the old times. The times before all hell broke loose over the 141, before they all got separated. Gary had almost forgot that exactly that was the reason why he joined the army; the reason why he loved it to be in the 141. They were like a family, indeed a very unusual word to describe his life in the military but in Gary´s opinion the best word to describe how much he loved all the guys around here. Even after the dramatic situation he was in after Shepherd's betrayal and his low confidence about his new look, he wouldn´t change just one thing that happened in the past.

All of his experiences he gained serving in the military made him who he was and he was proud of it. Of course, he admitted sometimes he was still the clumsy, childish boy others wanted to protect, but he needed to keep this abilities, to keep himself sane.

He shook his head, the General needed is help to make a plan, how they could storm in the building without causing too much attention. He has started to study the footprint as he got it and knew that under the building was an old tunnel, build in the Second World War, which led to the little village a mile away. This tunnel could be a great chance to reach the building without causing too many stir. The building itself has two entrances. A main entrance, what would be the most guarded access and a fire exit on the back of the building. To the building also belonged a small cot, some meters away from it, it would be a great position for the snipers, if they could clear it before they raided the building.

He told the General what he thought and earned an approving pat on the shoulder and a smile from his superior. The General immediately briefed all the other soldiers about their plan to send most of the men through the tunnel, a two men team should take care of the back entrance, three men for the main entrance and two snipers on the top of the cot.

"Does that means we go now?" Price asked after the briefing, he couldn´t wait any longer.

"Slow down John. First we send a recon drone to see how many of his men are in the building and in the vicinity. We also need to find out if he ordered his men to control the tunnel, maybe we have luck and he doesn´t know about it." Mac answered him calmly.

"Why do you wait? Do it!" Price replied angry, making the General smile.

"I already did it." Mac smiled at his friend.

"Well done…old man!" Price smiled back and relaxed a bit.

"Sir? What should we do in the mean time?" Royce asked, ´cause they were done with all their preparations.

"Good question. Let me think…..what would you say if we go to the dining hall and eat something? Take it as an opportunity to regain some power." The General answered and everyone did as he said.

* * *

Natasha sat obviously bored in the control room, watching Soap on the screen. Their prisoner hasn´t moved for hours and Natasha was sure he fell asleep. She sighted and looked around, checking the soldiers in the room. They were still deepened in their work but Natasha could see they all were exhausted. She turned her gaze back to the screen and wondered what Andrew was doing with this girl, which Natasha thought, wasn´t playing in the same league as she did. She didn´t understand what Andrew found that much amazing in her, that he tried to pull her onto his side. In Natasha´s opinion he acted pathetic, she should be the woman on Andrew´s side, not this unimposing, naïve, unfeminine, little girl, Andrew has met in his younger days. Natasha indeed knew Julia wasn´t a girl but she did look much younger then she was. As Natasha first saw her she thought the woman wasn´t older than twenty years.

Natasha shook her head quickly; why was she even thinking about Julia. She once more checked on the soldiers in the room; she needed to send them away. She couldn´t need them to watch her when she was in the prisoner´s room.

"Hey, why don´t you go to sleep?" She asked the soldiers in a sweet voice.

"We have to finish our work here. Besides we need to watch the prisoner." A soldier answered her, tipping something on his Laptop.

"Really? Can I remember you that I´m the one who watches the prisoners for hours now? And I´m sure you can continue your work tomorrow, you all must be tired." Natasha replied, walking over to the soldier, shutting his laptop and looking him deeply in the eyes.

The Soldier let out a frustrated sigh and looked at his comrades, they all seemed to be tired as hell. He rubbed his temple with his index finger, thinking about what to do.

"Maybe your right ma'am but if something´s going on you call us, right?" He asked her standing up from his chair, stretching his back.

Natasha nodded at him with a smile and the Soldier told the others to go to bed and continue their work tomorrow. As they had all left the room Natasha sat back in her Seat in front of the screen and smiled greedy. She closed her eyes and thought about the best way to get what she wanted from the Captain. She sat there, enjoying the silence as she heard weird noises from the room above her. It sounded like someone´s fighting up there, she heard a metal object hit the floor and the moving of a heavy furniture. She opened her eyes and looked on the ceiling, trying to recall what room was above her.

As she heard a squeaking noise followed by some clearly satisfied moans, she knew what room was above her. _Oh so that was your plan! Was that the reason you avoided my touch earlier? Was it all because of her? Was it because you wanted to sleep with her? Oh, Andrew, you're not the only one who can play that game. I think your prisoner is going to like what I´m going to do with him. _

Natasha shoot up from her chair, took the key to the prisoner´s room with her and left the room, making her way down to her object of lust.

* * *

Soap has laid himself down, trying to get some rest and get his mind free. He was surprised that Andrew kept his promise and his men didn´t touch him. He also wondered where Julia was, has he killed her? Or would he go physical on her? Maybe he raped her right now, but would he really do this to her? Soap had seen this man was insane but he also felt that Andrew told her the truth about his feelings. It was a tricky situation, if Soap at least could unknot the ropes, but he had tried it and failed. Soap turned to the site, away from the camera, he would try to open the knots with more power. He spread his hands as far as he could and after a deep breath he pushed as strong as he could, making the rope carve red shapes into his skin. He cursed silently and repeated the process a few times, till he lost the hope to get his arms free.

He turned around again and laid on his back, staring to the ceiling. His thoughts drifted to his team, he was sure they were about to rescue him soon, he had a feeling for this. He smirked of the thought how his Task Force would act when he was not around, sometimes all the men acted like they were in a madhouse, ignoring all the rules of their General. He was however sure Price would take care of them and make sure they would follow the orders of MacMillian and respecting his position on the team. He took a deep breath, getting serious as he heard footsteps coming closer to the room. He kept his eyes closed as he heard the door get unlocked. He noticed that someone has stepped up to him and he could feel eyes checking him.

As he felt the person´s breathe on his ear and a hand slip onto his chest he snapped his eyes open wide in shock, meeting a pair of hazel brown eyes. He inspected the face in front of him and recognized a woman with short blond hairs, tender cheekbones, which were covered with, in his opinion, too much rouge, a small mouth with thin lips and a glance in her hazel eyes, which made Soap realize she was here to torture him in her own way.

"Why so shy Captain? Don´t you want to have some fun?" She asked him in a flirty voice, starting to move her hand across his chest.

Soap, at first confused of her words, immediately tried to escape her touch and crawled backwards. His action made her laugh weird.

"Oh, I like your antipathy against me. It makes me want you even more." She told him and cut the distance between them, now using her two hands to grab his shoulders and with a quick move of her legs she soared up at him, sitting down on his hip.

Soap tried to push her away but as she recognized what he wanted to do she just bend down to his face and pressed her lips again his. Soap began to struggle as she tried to part his lips with her tongue, he wanted to shove the woman off of him, but she laid on him with all her weight. Not that she was a heavy person but his bonded arms and legs made it hard for him to push her away.

Accidently he touched one of her breasts, making her break the kiss, lifting the upper part of her body and staring at him very amused.

"Oh Captain! You're kind of a quick guy." She smirk down at him and opened the blouse she was wearing.

"Don´t touch me!" Soap yelled at her and tried to move his whole body to the side, wanting to bring her down.

"It´s too late for you to have any wishes. I thought I wouldn´t need this but you asked for it." Natasha simply said, pulling a knife out of her boots and holding it against the Captains throat.

"You should stop moving. I don´t want to hurt you." She told him, bending down again and once more kissing him claiming on the lips, trying to give him a French kiss.

Soap laid there, leering down at the knife on his throat, unsure what to do. He never imagined to be in this situation ever, he was sure this was the worst torture he ever has been through. He was disgust off the woman laying on him but the only chance he saw to ease the situation was to swallow the feelings he had and just play her game. He closed his eyes and returned the kiss, hoping she would be satisfied with it and leave him alone after the kiss ended.

It didn´t take long for him to realize how wrong he was as his tormentor slid her free hand down his chest, making her way into his pants. As Soap felt her hand on the edge of his waistband he shot his eyes wide open in fear, was she going to rape him? He once more began to struggle, ignoring the knife still rested on his throat. He rather would die than to tolerate her action. As he felt her slipping into his pants and touching his genitals, he did the only thing that would help him to get out of this situation. He inhaled heavily and with all his power he could activate he bit her tongue, making her jump off him, screaming in pain. Soap could taste her blood in his mouth, spit it out and looked at her covering her mouth with one hand.

"What have you done?" She lisp, still feeling the pain from the bite.

"You deserved it." Soap replied, lifting the upper part of his body.

"I´ll kill you for that!" She yelled at him and within a second she walked over to him with the knife raised up in the air, ready to stab him.

In defense Soap raised his own hands up as she swung the knife down, waiting for the steel to cut his flesh, as suddenly Natasha got pulled away from behind, making her scream in anger.

Soap put his hands down and saw one of the Soldier who had taken Julia out of the room, holding Natasha back.

"What are you doing?" She yelled at the Soldier, trying to get away from his grip.

"Andrew said no one touches the prisoner." The Soldier just answered her and began to drag her out of the room.

"Oh really? Andrew´s having fun up there and I´m not allowed to?" Soap heard her yell, as the Soldier had put her on her feet again.

"Andrew´s the boss, get it? Want me to tell him what you did?" The Soldier answered her in a calm voice.

"Argh, do what you want. I don´t care." Soap heard her scream as she turned around and walked away from the room.

The Soldier in front of the door shook his head, glanced at Soap and closed the door again, locking it. Soap sat there, fixing the door with his eyes and tried to handle what just had happened. If the Soldier hadn´t come in the right moment he would be dead by now. This crazy woman really would have killed him without turning her hair. Soap let out a sigh of relief. He never was that happy to see an adverse soldier. After a while Soap looked down at his hands, realizing a small cut on the rope, where Natasha had stroke it with the knife. He smiled weakly, maybe now he could stretch the rope more out, he began to move his hands as suddenly he remembered the words Natasha had spoken as she got dragged out of the room. He got worried even more.

Did Andrew abuse Julia?


	23. I m sorry

**This was the hardest chapter for me to write till now. One reason for it was that I never wrote about any explicit fighting scenes and I don´t know if I did a good job. I would be thankful if you could tell me if the scenes are good or bad or what I could do better. But now enjoy reading this and feel free to leave a Review.**

* * *

„Team Alpha in Position. "

„Team Charlie in Position. "

„Team Delta ready when you are. "

"Snipers in Position."

"Good, wait for my go!" MacMillian announced to his teams.

After the recon drone had scanned the area around the building and checked the secret tunnel underneath it, the whole Task Force went out to the village, to rescue their Captain. Fortunately the tunnel wasn´t secured by Andrew´s men and outside were only five Soldiers Patrolling around the building. Mac had settled himself in an old, abandoned building, from where he gave his orders to the men.

To calm the presence of Soldiers in the village the Police men were on the spot, explaining the Situation and making sure the villagers didn´t get into struggle. Some of them were also added to the Rescue Team, ´cause the drone detected twenty heat Signatures in the building. Mac also had help from Sergeant Miller, who gave the orders to the Snipers.

"Team Delta and Charlie take the targets down. Snipers get ready to climb up the cot. Go!" Mac and Miller ordered through the radio.

"Good, I count to three." Price told his team, who was hiding in a bush near the building, earning nods from Scarecrow and Royce. Price raised his left hand and counted three fingers down.

Within a second after his last finger was counted down, the targets fell silently on the ground. Price, Scarecrow, Royce, Ghost and Roach sneaked over to the dead bodies and shoved them away, hiding them behind the cot, on which the snipers had taken their position.

"Targets down and out." Price called to Mac over the comms.

"Good, any movement in the building?" Mac asked back, waiting for any response of the snipers.

"No Sir, it´s all quiet." Archer answered after he checked the situation through his scope.

"Nice. Follow the plan. Team Delta head to the back entrance. Team Charlie and Alpha stay in position and wait for Ghost´s advice." Mac ordered again and Ghost and Roach sneaked to the back entrance, checking the door.

Of course it was locked and Ghost gave Roach the order to open the door, while he contacted Mac, telling him they were about to enter the building. Roach took the picklock out of his pocket and started to unlock the door. He tried not long, till he heard a click and the door was unlocked. He nodded to Ghost, to indicate him he unlocked the metal door.

"Mac? We´re going in." Ghost told his superior, grabbing his gun from his back and released the safety.

"Keep your eyes open." Mac replied and Ghost signed Roach to open the door.

Roach put his hand on the door handle, pushed it down and opened it quickly. Ghost stepped in with his gun raised, checked the corners and waved Roach to follow him. The Sergeant took out the weapon he was carrying with him and followed Ghost into the building. Behind the entry was a door on the left side and a corridor leading to a stair. Roach closed the emergency door and watched Ghost as he opened the door on the left side.

"It´s clear." The Lieutenant announced and Roach started to go upstairs.

* * *

As he reached the end of the stairs he leered around the corners, seeing two men patrolling the next corridor. He gestured it to Ghost who was right behind him, getting a nod as an answer to take them out. Roach raised his silenced gun, took a deep breath and quickly he shot both men, sending their lifeless bodies to the ground. Roach put his weapon down and he and Ghost sneaked up to the men, checking if they were really dead, before they shoved them behind some boxes, standing near the stairs.

Ghost checked the next corridor and saw one man standing in front of a door, guarding it. He wanted to take him down but realized another corridor on the left side of the door. If he would take the Soldier down and someone was in the other corridor they would lose their cover, he needed to find a way to lure him away from the door. He sat there thinking what to do as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and faced Roach, who simply smiled at him.

"Let me take care of it." The Sergeant told him and stretched his back. Ghost looked at his friend and noticed that Roach has changed his clothes.

"Funny." He stated and smirked, Roach had undressed one of the dead bodies and was now wearing the uniform of the man, which was not exactly fitting the Sergeant.

Roach just rolled his eyes and stepped out of the Shadow they were hiding, cleared his throat and walked straight up to the enemy. Ghost watched him silently as he took out his knife and stabbed the soldier straight through the heart, covering the mouth of his target with one hand. As Roach had shoved the enemy out of the way and told Ghost that he saw a stair in the other corridor leading downstairs again, Ghost contacted the others teams, to tell them they cleared the floor and they could infiltrate the building. He also told them they had taken three tangos out and that at least fifteen tangos were left.

"Okay, we´re coming in." Price announced as the other teams got ready to accomplish the plan.

"You think Soap´s behind that door?" Roach asked his friend concerned.

"I don´t know anyway in there must be something important, otherwise they hadn´t secured the door." Ghost answered, looking at the door.

"Ready?" Ghost asked and earned a nod from his teammate.

"Good, let´s go." Ghost said as both sneaked up to the door, placing contiguous to the door.

Ghost looked over to Roach, checking if he had the Sergeant´s full attention. Roach reflected his look and nodded; he was ready to go in. Ghost raised his hand and counted down from three.

The door flung open wide, Ghost and Roach stepped in and took three more men out. They were that much fast, the men didn´t even had time to defend their lives. After they had shot them down Ghost realized someone sitting on the front end of the room, not moving. Ghost gestured to Roach he should go and check out on the person, while he inspected the room and made sure no one was coming in.

Roach swallowed hard and stepped up to the person in the seat. He put one hand on the person´s shoulder and shook it lightly. As the person didn´t react he tried to turn the chair around, completely forgot to cover himself. He pushed on the shoulder and the chair turned around a bit, but before Roach knew what was happening the person on the chair shot up and stabbed him in the arm with a knife. Whining he stumbled back, holding his arm in pain.

Ghost who got alarmed from Roaches whine immediately rushed over to the person and pointed his gun to his head, yelling to drop the knife down. With a mischievous smile the person let the knife slip to the floor, turning his head to face Ghost.

"You´re too late!" The person, which clearly was this Natasha told Ghost as he put her handcuffs on.

"What do you mean?" Ghost asked angry.

"Look!" Natasha said, nodding her head to a screen. Ghost followed her order and froze for a few seconds.

"What the…." Ghost stuttered as he saw the scene on the screen.

"Where are they?" Now it was Roach who yelled at her after he looked to the screen.

"Downstairs." Natasha simply said still smiling.

"Go!" Roach yelled at Ghost, who just looked confused back at him, not moving.

"Go Ghost! I´ll take care of her." Roach repeated.

"But you're injured." Ghost protested.

"I´m fine. Now go." Roach yelled, pushing Ghost to the door.

Ghost shot one more glance at his partner to make sure he could handle the woman, before he started to run. He had to find the room.

* * *

**10 minutes earlier….**

Still tired Julia opened her eyes slowly. First she thought she dreamed about last night but as she recognized the comfortable bed she was lying in she knew it was real. She smiled weakly, closed her eyes again and turned around, inhaling the sweet scent of Andrew. She was sure after the last night Andrew still loved her and to be honest she too has feelings for him and maybe she could love him again. Andrew even promised her he would free Soap, without hurting him anymore. Julia was satisfied, soon she would be out of here and live the life she always wanted; a life outside of the military. Not that she didn´t liked it to be in the military; she loved the experiences she had gained in the past six years, but if she had the chance to go back to a normal life, she would take it. A life without fighting, losing beloved people and always fear for the next day.

She yawned and stretched her arm out to put it around Andrew; but all she felt as she laid her arm down again was the fitted sheet. Irritated she opened her eyes only to see the bedside was empty. She frowned and lifted herself up, looking around confused. She scratched her head and called Andrew a few times but he didn´t response. She scanned the whole room and recognized that all of Andrew´s cloth were gone. She shook her head and wanted to lay down again as an idea crossed her mind. As fast as she could, she got out of bed and dressed herself, having a bad feeling. What if Andrew didn´t keep his promise? What if he was going to kill Soap right now?

She wanted to leave the room as she remembered something she has seen yesterday. She turned around again and walked over to a desk, which was standing in front of one blocked window. On the Seat in front of the desk hung a jacket; she stuck one of her hands in the inside pocket and pulled out a revolver. She put it into her pocket and ran out of the room.

* * *

Soap had rested a bit and now he continued to free his hands from the rope. After the cut it really was easier to loosen it and after a few tries he could get his arms free. With his newly resumed freedom he tried to free his legs. He carefully moved his hands down to his legs, the camera, which was watching him always in mind. If they would see what he was doing and that he got his hands free, they sure would come to him and bond his arms again. Luckily the knots on his legs weren´t as powerful tied as the ones on his arms and he was able to loosen the first knot.

He began to smile as he reached for the second knot; ready to open it. When his legs were free he only had to wait till someone unlocked the door and then he would crush down the person; fighting for his life. He only hoped he had the time to complete his plan. After a while the second knot loosened a bit and he was about to open it completely as he heard footsteps fast coming closer to the door. He cursed silently, laid the loosened rope over his hands and waited for the person to step in.

"How have you been Captain? It´s been a while?" Soap heard Andrew ask as he entered the room smiling.

"I can´t say I missed you." Soap answered, staring up at Andrew.

"Oh, you disappoint me. Wasn´t it lonely without any company?" Andrew crouched down in front of Soap, pointing a gun to his forehead.

"I thought you already know I wasn´t alone. You´re girl, what was her name? Natasha? She visit me." Soap answered totally relaxed.

Andrew just laughed weird at the Captains comment. "Did you two have fun?"

"Why don´t you ask her?" Soap stated.

"Why should I? I don´t care about her anymore. I got back what I wanted." Andrew´s smile grew even wider as he recognized the Captain realized what he was talking about.

"What did you do to her?" Soap yelled in anger.

"I didn´t do anything she wouldn´t have enjoyed." Andrew answered and with his free hand he began to choke Soap, making the Captain gasp for air.

"You know Captain, I promised her I would free you but I can´t do that. You were the one who destroyed my entire life and now you have to pay for it. Do you want to know why I kept you captured and didn´t kill you as I had the chance? You know what date is today? It´s the day you got promoted, the day your whole life changed. Would there be a better day to die? I wonder what your family will say if they get the news of your tragic dead. Your dead on a date they all celebrate to honor you? Speaking of your family; I should visit them after all that, maybe I should kill them too." Andrew started to laugh more and crazier, choking the Captain´s throat even harder.

"What? You don´t say anything? Is it hard for you to breathe?" Andrew asked him sarcastic.

Soap couldn´t take the pressure on his throat any longer, if he wouldn´t take his chance now, it would be too late for him. He leered to the gun in Andrew´s hand; he needed to act quickly, to not get shot in the head. He slipped his hands out of the rope and with all his power he could gain from his weak body he grabbed Andrew´s hand with the gun and raised it up in the air. Andrew caught off-guard stopped choking the Captain and tried to push the Captain away from him.

Soap acted quickly and threw himself on Andrew, making them both crush to the floor, sending the gun fly through the air by the collision. Soap watched it land out of reach for him and his foe. Soap cursed and turned his attention back to Andrew, who was about to punch him in the face. Soap reacted fast and caught the fist before it could hit his face. Andrew was less impressed of this action and tried to punch Soap with his other fist, but the Captain caught the second fist too. Full of anger Andrew moved his legs wildly, he wanted to push Soap off him.

Soap knew he had to do something to avoid his fall and the only part of his body he could move freely was his head. He took a deep breath and with all of his power he gave Andrew a head-butt, which made Andrew loosen his press against Soap´s hands. Thereupon Soap managed to punch Andrew in the face two times and as Andrew whined in pain Soap shoved himself off him; he needed to reach the pistol. Soap felt dizzy in fact of the choking and his bonded legs made it difficult for him to crawl away from Andrew. He shook his head, now wasn´t the time to be put off by his immobility. He used his free hands to crawl over to the gun, with his fingertips he even reached it, but before he could hold it safety in his hands the gun was kicked away and he felt an almost unbearable pressure against his throat.

In Reflex Soap touched the object on his throat with both of his hands, only to feel that Andrew had took the rope, with which Soap´s hands were bond, to strangle him. Soap tried to gasp some air but his throat was too constrict to breathe. Soap tried to ease the rope but Andrew pressed it too strong. Fearful Soap tried to at least get a hold on one of Andrew´s legs, to maybe bring him down to the floor but his hands only slipped off Andrew´s pant legs. In agony Soap´s whole body began to shake and he felt the power leave his muscles. He was sure to pass out soon and then die, Andrew´s mad laughing the last thing he would remember.

Soap felt tears running down his cheeks and wondered why he was crying. It wasn´t the first time he was in agony; he should´ve died many times and he never started crying. _What was the difference now? Was it because his will to life on was stronger than before? Was it ´cause he had cheated death so often that he was used to be saved? Or did he want to survive to see his teammates again, to tell them how happy he was they all were still together? Maybe it was simply because he hadn´t thanked Julia enough for his rescue._

* * *

He didn´t know, the only thing he knew was that he couldn´t pray for himself to be saved once more. His body stopped to shake and Soap welcomed the weakness, waiting to collapse, to feel no more pain. He was about to close his eyes, to find peace in thoughts of better times as he heard a female voice scream Andrew´s name and Andrew switch his weak body to the other side. Soap weakly opened one eye and saw that Julia had come to the room, yelling at Andrew what he was doing. Andrew just laughed at her and told her he was just doing his job; making Julia stare at Soap with eyes wide open.

Julia stood in front of her boyfriend and couldn´t believe what she saw. Hadn´t he promised he would let Soap free? Hadn´t he told her he wanted to live a normal life with her? Why did he lie at her? What should she do now? She did the only thing that crossed her mind to ease the situation. She took the gun out of her pocket and pointed it to Andrew.

"Let him go!" She yelled at him desperately, holding the gun with shaking hands.

"Oh you wouldn´t….." Andrew was cut off as Julia shot missing him a couple of millimeters.

"Let him go!" She yelled once more and Andrew loosened the grip around the rope, so Soap could breathe easier now.

"I ask you one more time. Why are you doing this? You promised me you would let him go!" Julia asked with a shaking voice, staring at Andrew.

"I wanted to. I really did but as I woke up I felt the anger overwhelm me and I knew if I don´t kill him now I would always regret it. Maybe I would blame you someday that I couldn´t get my revenge ´cause of you and I don´t want to hurt you in anger. I just did it for our love."

"Our love?" Julia asked him, lulled by his words.

"Yes, I just do this all for us. Not for Natasha, not for my men, even not for Makarov." Andrew answered, smiling lovely at her.

"Even if they try to hunt me or they kill me, I know that our love will always remain. All I have to do is to kill him finally, all I need is to kill everyone who doesn´t believe in our love." Andrew said, looking down at Soap and tighten the rope around Soap´s throat again. The Captain again began to grasp some air, unable to move a single bone.

"Wait!" Julia told Andrew and raised the gun again, making Andrew smile.

"Want to shoot him? Feel free to!" Andrew said grinning at her.

Julia looked into Andrew´s eyes, swallowed hard and turned her gaze down to Soap, who seemed to try his best to look at her pitiful. Julia shivered, making the gun in her hand labile. She once more looked up at Andrew who still grinned and then back to Soap, starring in his eyes as she braced herself.

"I´m sorry….but I don´t know you."

The next things heard was a single shot and a lifeless body crushing to the floor….


	24. Uncertainty

Impatient Ghost stride up and down the corridor which led to the infirmary. They got back at base only twenty minutes ago and he waited full of sorrow for the doctor to call him in. Every now and then he looked up to the watch only to see how slowly the minutes pass. What took them so long? He sighted heavily and slumped himself in a seat, looked out the window and tried to stop the tremble of his legs. He propped his elbows on his upper legs and put his head in his hands, shaking his head. He began to think about what had happened.

* * *

He ran as fast as he could downstairs and through the corridors of the building. He needed to find the room his Captain was in quickly. He had seen Julia on the screen, entering the room and pointing a weapon to Soap. He was sure he had to stop her from shooting him. Why was she doing all this anyway? Was she still in love with Andrew? Or had he brain washed her? Has she chosen to be on Andrew´s side? Did he really fool himself by thinking she was one of the good? He shook his head, now it wasn´t the time to think about that. He had to find this fucking room. As he heard a shot he froze momentary in his movements, staring shocked in the air.

_Oh no, please not._ He thought and started to run again.

Ghost turned around a corner, where he met Meat, who was part of the Team that came through the tunnel. As Ghost past him he could hear Meat yell that they had cleaned the whole building and he asked him what was going on. But Ghost didn´t response, he just kept on running and turned the next corner. Around it he saw Price standing in a room, yelling. Ghost´s heart beat faster; came the shot he heard from Price. He slowed down as he entered the room and looked at the situation in it; he swallowed hard, what has she done?

* * *

"Tango down." Scarecrow announced, looking back to Price.

"Good, that was the last one!" The Captain answered, contacting Mac to tell him they had cleaned the area behind the main entry.

"Mac? Do you copy? Were done here." Price said into the comms.

"I hear you Price. The other Teams cleared their way too. We have sixteen tangos down." Mac replied.

"Sixteen? And we had twenty heat signatures? That means if we don´t count Soap and Julia, two of them are left."

"You´re right Price. Wait a sec, Roach´s calling." Mac told him and went static. Price waited impatient for his commanding officer too call him back.

"Price?" He heard the frantically voice over the comms.

"Yes Mac?" He asked nervous, what made his friend so upset.

"Roach told me Andrew´s in a room trying to kill Soap and Julia is with them as well. The room´s not far away from your position. You just need to follow the corridor on your right and then turn to your right, there´s the….."

Price didn´t listen to the words his commander told him anymore, his attention got caught from a shot that´s been heard. Price cursed and started to run the way Mac had told him. He feared for the worse; had they killed his friend? He quickly passed the corridor and turned to his right, where he saw an opened door and in the room behind it was someone standing with one arm stretched out. Price took his pistol out, entered the room and pointed the gun to the head of the person in front of him, yelling to drop the gun.

The person in front of him was shaking but didn´t follow his orders. He yelled once more and felt someone´s running into the room, standing next to him. Price leered to the person on his left and recognized it was Ghost, who looked shocked to the middle of the room. Price followed the Lieutenants gaze and saw a lifeless body lying on the floor and another person by the side of the dead. Price widened his eyes, turned his gaze back to the girl in front of him and yelled once more to her to drop the gun down. Meanwhile Meat and Scarecrow entered the room and took care of the third person in the room.

Slowly Julia lowered her arm and let the pistol slide out of her hand. Price took the chance and kicked the gun away, still pointing his gun on her head. He exchanged a quick look with Ghost, lowered his gun and put it back. Price took a deep breath and stepped forward to the lifeless body on the floor, crouched down and checked if he could feel a pulse on the bodies' carotid. He touched it with three of his fingertips but as he felt nothing he looked up to Ghost and shook his head.

"What have I done?" Julia whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks, as she slipped down on the floor.

Ghost looked at her painful and did the only right thing to comfort her. He kneeled down next to her, pulling his arms around her and consulted her into his chest. He felt her fingers clutch into his vest, tears of pain running down her face. Ghost hold her tide, stroke her head and rocked her back and forth, as if she was a little child, which needed to calm down. Ghost turned his gaze back to Price, who contacted Mac and told him they needed a transport back to base…

* * *

The memory of Julia´s emotional breakdown made Ghost´s heart sadden. He never before let the pain of one person touch him that easily and still he didn´t understand why she had done it. Was it her plan to shoot him? Did she do it for revenge? What had he done to her in there? The trembling uncertainty killed him, how long had he to wait to talk to her?

He stood up again, looking at the watch. 30 minutes since they were back. He sighted in frustration as he stepped up to the window and looked out. The weather was as much depressing as he felt right now. It snows heavily and the wind was blowing strong. Ghost looked into the darkness and wondered if he should go away from the infirmary, he needed some rest. Maybe Price was right as he told him to wait outside, ´cause he was too troubled and would only handicap the doctor´s work. He hadn´t slept well in the past few days and now he felt mentally and physically exhausted. He took one more look towards the infirmary door, before he turned around, ready to leave.

He almost was out of sight as the infirmary door opened and the doctor came out, calling his name. Ghost stopped walking, turned around and stepped up to the doctor.

"You can come in." The doctor told him and headed back inside the infirmary.

* * *

Ghost stared at the door one second, before decided to go in and followed the doctor. Slowly he walked through the main corridor, from which all the treatment rooms could be reached. He looked at every single room, only to recognize they were all empty. He turned his attention back to the doctor, who slipped into a room, talking to someone. Ghost stood in the door frame with a little smile. In the room was Roach, surrounded by Anna, who acted like Roach was going to die. She argued with the doctor about Roach´s therapy and that she doesn´t understand why the doctor didn´t keep him in the infirmary, to keep an eye on his wound.

"Fine! If you don´t keep him here I´ll take care of him." Anna finally stated and sat down next to Roach.

"What?" Roach asked her surprised.

"You heard me. From now on I will be your personal nurse." Anna told him smiling.

"But…" Roach was about to protest, but shut up quickly as Anna shot him a killing glance.

"No Refuse. I´m going to stay with you night and day, understood?" Anna asked or let´s say ordered him.

Roach hung his head, mumbled something and didn´t refuse. Ghost chuckled lightly; even if she had wanted to Anna couldn´t hide she was Price´s daughter. Headshaking the doctor left the room again and gestured Ghost to follow him. Both went to the next door, in which Julia lay in a bed, staring to the ceiling. The doctor told her that Ghost was here and left the room again, leaving Ghost and Julia alone in the room. At first Ghost didn´t move an inch from the door frame, he just watched her, recognizing she didn´t look at him. As she didn´t response after a while, he took a seat next to the bed and carefully he put his right hand on top of hers. Thereupon she closed her eyes and started to tremble on her whole body.

Ghost thought about remove his hand from hers but as he tried to twitch back Julia tightened her grip on his hand, opened her eyes again and locked eyes with him. Ghost recognized the tears building up in her eyes again, slid closer to her and caressed her arm. Both sat there in silence for a few minutes, till Julia finally began to speak.

"How´s Roach doing?" She asked weak.

"Good, his injury isn´t that bad." Ghost answered and tried to smile.

"How you´re feeling?" He asked her and watched her swallow hard.

"I don´t know. Right now I don´t feel anything." She answered and looked back up to the ceiling.

Ghost just nodded and squeezed her hand, making her look back at him. Ghost felt she wanted to ask him something.

"What´s wrong? Do you want me to leave?" He asked her, but she shook her head frantically.

"No, please. I don´t want to be alone right now." She stated with a shaking voice.

"There´s something you want to ask me. What is it?"

Julia took in a deep breathe, searching for the right words. "How is he doing?" She asked concerned.

"Is Soap alright?"


	25. Could it be?

„I haven´t seen him since were back, but I´m sure he´ll make it. John´s a tough bastard." Ghost answered her with a smile.

"Good." Julia simply replied and closed her eyes again.

The room went silent again and the only thing Ghost heard was her steady breathing. Ghost looked into her face, recognizing she was crying silently. The tears just rolled down her face and Ghost didn´t know what to do. Should he wipe them away? Would she allow it? Why was she crying? Was it because he told her he didn´t know how Soap was doing? Or did she cry ´cause she recognized what she did? Was the whole situation too much for her to handle?

Unsure Ghost raised one of his hands, approached her cheek and as he touched her skin gently she opened her eyes again, staring up into his. Ghost froze in his movement and returned her look for a while, trying to figure out what he saw in her eyes. He couldn´t get a clue and removed his hand from her cheek. Somehow ashamed he dropped his eyes and stared at his hand, which still laid on top of hers. She has loosened her grip around it and Ghost slowly started to remove his hand. As he did it he leaned back in his seat, tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

"I did it to save him." Surprised Ghost looked back to Julia, who has spoken.

"What?" He asked, watching her get up and sit on the edge of the bed.

"I shot Andrew to save Soap." She responded, smiling afflicted.

"He would have killed him if I hadn´t done anything. I looked Soap in the eyes and told him I was sorry and that I didn´t know him, but I didn´t mean him. I meant Andrew. He wasn´t himself anymore. He was out of his mind; he even said he didn´t do it for Makarov." Julia shook her head.

"Although he knew Makarov´s dead. I think he was caught in his own world. He was that much out to kill Soap that he displaced reality and made his own. A reality where he was one of the good guys, a reality where Makarov was still alive." She snorted, shaking her head again.

"He even made me believe that he was still in love with me. I really believed him that he wanted to live a normal life with me; for a short moment I even thought about shooting Soap and flee with Andrew."

"But you did the right thing!" Ghost leaned forward and placed his hands on hers, trying to cheer her up.

"I know but it still feels strange. I never thought about shooting someone I care for. If I only had known you were in the building, maybe Andrew would be alive right now."

"Julia! He captured you and Soap. Why do you regret what you did? He got what he deserved." Ghost raised his voice a bit in anger.

"I know! Damn Simon, I know he didn´t deserve to get away with all the shit he did but you have to understand my point of view. He was my first love and to tell you the truth as I was alone with him he acted like the man I fell in love with. I even assumed I would have a better life with him." She told him and pulled her hands away from his, crossing them in front of her chest.

Ghost shook his head, of course he was aware of the fact that she had feelings for her ex-boyfriend. He could tell it from her reaction as Price checked if Andrew was dead, but she needed to get over her suppose that she did something wrong. Sure Ghost wouldn't have shot Andrew in the head and kill him, he would´ve shot him in the legs or the arms, to harm him but even if Julia served in the military, she still was only a nurse. What she did was probably the only way she knew to stop him. He looked pitiful at her and once more he tried to make contact with her. He stood up from his seat and placed himself next to her on the bedside. He put one arm around her shoulder and pulled her onto his chest. First Julia didn´t move, her arms stayed crossed in front of her chest, but as Ghost rested his head on hears and whispered something to her, she sighted and flung her arms around his waist.

* * *

"How you´re doing?" Price asked Roach as the Soldier entered the infirmary´s group room.

"I´m fine Sir. How´s the Captain doing?" Roach asked as he took a seat next to Price, looking curious.

"The doctor said he had luck. If Andrew had strangled him a few minutes longer he would be death right now." Price answered him and smiled slightly.

"That´s good to hear, so Julia saved him twice?"

"Yes, you could say that." Price spoke, stood up and walked over to coffee dispenser, which was next to the entry.

"Want some?" He asked Roach as he poured himself a cup of coffee. The Sergeant just shook his head and with a shrug of his shoulders Price walked back and sat down again.

"So, I heard Anna´s going to be your personal nurse." Price stated as he took a sip.

"Yes, she said she´s going to watch over me night and day." Roach answered a little embarrassed, he didn´t want to talk with Price about his daughter.

"Well then. I wish you luck with her." Price said smiling.

"What do you mean?" Roach asked him concerned.

"You see Roach. As my daughter was younger she always got what she wanted. She annoyed me and my wife so long till we backed down. I know I haven´t seen her for six years but the last days I recognized her character hasn´t changed much. All I can tell you is to not try to argue with her, she won´t listen to you anyways." Price explained and watched Roach switch uncomfortable in his seat.

"No need to get nervous. Just think about my words." Price patted Roach on his back and went back to his drink.

_Great. Could it get any worse? I´m absolutely not in the mood to get treated like a little child. Why is she doing this to me? I haven´t done anything wrong, have I? Anna´s a cute girl, I give her that, but I don´t really know her. What if she annoys me and I tell her that? What will Price do to me if I break her heart? Wait…break her heart? Whoa, you´re too hasty Gary. It´s not like she´s in love with me. She only told me that I´m cute, nothing more. I still wonder why she told me this, I mean look at me. I have this huge burn marks all over my face and their absolutely not cute. Gosh, I should stop thinking about this kind of stuff. _

Gary shook his head to clear it from his thoughts. He was happy that Anna hasn´t followed him as he left the room and told her he just need to go to the toilet. However he was sure it wouldn´t take long till she recognized he had lied to her and she would start to look out for him. As he heard footsteps coming closer, he stopped breathing, he was sure Anna was on her way to this room and he waited for the door to open. He stared at the door, seeing the door handle got pushed down and within a second someone stepped into the room.

Relieved Gary let out the air he was holding; it was Ghost. He eyed his friend as he approached the table and sat down next to Gary.

"Where have you been?" Gary asked him, seeing Ghost looked very tired.

"I was with Julia." Ghost answered yawning.

"How´s she doing?"

"I think she´s doing better now. She blamed herself for shooting Andrew, thinking she did something wrong. But I could convince her that she did the only right thing, she fell asleep not long ago. I wanted to pay Soap a visit as the doctor told me you were in here. Want to join me?" Ghost asked, standing up again.

"Yes, of course." Gary stated and got up too.

"What about you Price?" Gary asked looking down to his superior.

Price just nodded, stood up and followed his two teammates out of the room.

* * *

Soap sat in the bed of the treatment room he was in, trying to eat something. The doctor had given him some kind of mashed fruits and a chicken stock, not really what the Captain would call a good meal. But Soap didn´t complain, his whole throat was burning and it was hard for him to swallow, so this were probably the only things he would taste in the near future. The doctor wasn´t a one for softening the facts; he had told Soap that the burning would probably remain for a couple of weeks. His voice was also affected, Soap could speak but his voice sounded very croaky. He also felt to have a lump in his throat, which made him harrumph every now and then, only to feel that the pressure remained.

As Soap finished his meal he stood up from his bed and stretched his back. He inspected the whole room but didn´t see anything interesting; the room didn´t even have a TV. In frustration he looked out of the window and saw it was still dark outside. He hung his head and propped his hands on the ledge, thinking about what to do. Maybe he should leave the room and check on the others, he hadn´t seen anybody from the 141 since they were back, but maybe the all went to sleep as they got back. Soap looked up again, maybe he should check on Julia. He had heard the doctor speaking about her. Was it true that she had an emotional brake down? He also heard the doctor say that he had checked her whole body and that he discovered something from her that confuses him a lot.

Soap was about to leave the room as someone knocked on his door. Surprised he told the one in front of the room to come in and sat back on his bed, maybe the doctor had come to check on him once more. He prepared himself to give the doctor an annoyed look, as he realized it was Price who knocked. Soap´s face lit up and he smiled as he saw that Ghost and Roach had come too.

The three men entered the room and surrounded their Captain, looking released at him.

"How are you?" Price asked and leaned himself against the cupboard next to the bed.

"I´ve been better but I´m fine, thanks." Soap answered still smiling.

"Good to hear. So how long will you have to stay here?"

"Till tomorrow. I would leave immediately but the doctor already gave me a tongue-lashing of the consequences from my injury and so I backed down and promised him to stay till tomorrow." Soap couldn´t avoid to roll his eyes as he remembered how upset the doctor was.

"But you haven´t come her to ask me this. What´s wrong?" Soap asked, knowing that Price wanted something else.

Price sighted deeply, pushed himself away from the cupboard and placed himself in front of Soap, looking very serious.

"I need to ask you something personal!" Price stated.

"Ok!" Soap just replied.

"Did Andrew force you to sleep with her?"

"With who?"

"Julia."

"No, why you ask?"

"The doctor found out she have had sex not long ago!" Price answered and closed his eyes.

"You know what this means."

Ghost who had listened to the words which were spoken looked at Price with angry eyes.

"You mean Andrew raped her?" Ghost yelled in frustration.

Price just shook his head and took a deep breathe.

"No, the doctor hasn´t found any sign that the sexual act happened violently."

"Wait, you say she wanted to sleep with him?" Now it was Gary who asked surprised and earned a nod from Price.

"That means she was still in love with him?"

"I don´t…" Price began to speak but was cut off from Ghost.

"Yes, she was."

"You know?"

"Yes, she told me, but she didn´t mention that she had sex with him."

"What else did she tell you?" Price asked him very curious.

"She told me he talked about Makarov. He said he didn´t want to kill Soap for Makarov."

"What? That´s pathetic. Makarov´s dead."

"I know and she told me that Andrew only imagined that Makarov is still alive; she said Andrew had lived in his own reality. But what if Andrew was right? What if Makarov somehow managed to survive?" Ghost asked.

Everyone in the room stared at Price, who was thinking deeply. Could it be? Was there any chance that Makarov was alive?


	26. Going Home

**The next day…**

„She didn´t talk a single word since we´re back." Ozone reported to Price, as the Captain entered the observation room.

"Who was talking to her?" Price asked and looked through the one-way mirror.

"General MacMillian. He even tried it in Russian but she just looked at him and smiled." Ozone answered headshaking and watched Price leave the room again.

"Sir?" Ozone stuck his head out of the door and looked at Price confused.

"I´m gonna try." Price answered and entered the interrogation room.

Price sat down on the empty chair, looked in the eyes of his counterpart and smiled; not saying a single word. If she wanted to play that game he would play along. He could tell by her look that she was confused and didn´t know what he wanted from her. Even though she kept smiling at him and tried to hide her nervousness, Price noticed she started to fumble with her fingers. Price grinned and leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. He knew it wouldn´t take any longer till she finally began to speak. After he studied her intensively for about two minutes, her smile faded away and she started to look angry at him.

"What do you want?" She finally asked him annoyed.

"Oh, so now you can speak?" Price asked her leaning back.

"I have only one question. Why spoke Andrew about Makarov? What´s with him?"

"You mean Vladimir?" Natasha asked back a mischievous sparkle in her eyes as Price nodded.

"You ask me? You should know it, shouldn´t you? I thought you were the one who killed him."

"You´re well-informed." Price told her less impressed.

"You know the procedure. Never let your enemies out of sight." She replied smiling.

"So did Andrew imagine he would get orders from him?" Price continued.

"Maybe, I don´t know." She stated.

"What do you need to remember?" Price knew he had to offer her a favor, or she wouldn´t tell him the whole story.

"You know I met an outstanding man not long ago. I´d like to spend some time with him." Natasha said and her smile grew wider.

"I see what I can do." Price told her as he stood up.

"That´s not all Captain." Natasha said as he opened the door, making him look back at her.

"I want this bitch to come here too." Natasha demanded.

"I said one favor." Price replied angry.

"That´s only one Captain. I only tell you what I know when them both are here." Natasha answered and looked up to the ceiling.

* * *

"Why did you do that John? We don´t do favors to our enemies." Mac furious asked Price as the named walked pass him, to head to the infirmary.

"It´s our only chance Mac." Price answered and kept on walking.

"For what? That she can tell us what we already know? That Makarov´s dead? That´s a useless treatment." Mac put a hand on Price´s shoulder and walked next to him.

"Are you sure? Who tells us that Makarov´s really dead? Look at the 141. I thought most of them are dead and they´re still alive. Who knows, maybe Makarov had a backup too." Price yelled at his friend.

"John don´t make a fool out of yourself. You were the one how hung him. You watched his lifeless body hanging from the ceiling."

"It was me too who held Soap´s dead body in my arms and he´s still alive. Do you still believe everything you saw or heard after all we´ve been through the last few days?" Price stopped in front of the infirmary door and stared at his friend.

Mac let the words sink in and slightly began to have doubts. If someone had told him only a week ago that Andrew was still alive, he would have laughed. If someone had told him months ago that Shepherd was a Betrayer, he would have laughed too. If someone had told him years ago he would fall in love with the wife of his former comrade, he would have laughed even more. But all this things happened and now he wasn´t sure of anything. He wasn´t sure what to believe and so he just shook his head.

"See? So let us take this chance, we´ll regret it someday if we don´t. I know it will be hard for both of them but at least we have to ask them." Price said and opened the door.

"You go and talk to MacTavish. I´ll go and talk to Julia." Mac ordered Price as they approached the infirmary. Price nodded to the General and they split apart.

* * *

Price knocked at the door to Soap´s treatment room and stepped in, seeing his friend standing by the window with a bottle of water in his hand. Price closed the door and watched MacTavish turn his head and smiling at him. Price returned the smile and let himself sink onto the bed, taking his hat off.

"You look better than yesterday." Price said as Soap sat down next to him.

"I´m feeling better too. The doctor just said I should conserve my voice as much as possible." Soap answered, his voice still croaky.

"That should be a problem." Price stated and stood up again.

"What do you mean?" Soap asked and took a sip from his bottle. Price rubbed his neck and turned around to face Soap again.

"You have to do me a favor. I tried to get some information out of Natasha but she only answered me one single question about Makarov. She only told me I´m to one how knows best that Makarov died but as I asked her if Andrew imagined to still get information from him she said she doesn´t know. I asked her what she needed to remember and she said she wanted to spend some time with you." Price explained and could see a disgusting impression on Soap´s face.

"I know what she was going to do with you but that´s our only chance to get more out of her. Would you go and talk to her?" Price waited for Soap´s response and could tell his friend was thinking deeply about what to do.

Price turned his gaze away from him, stepped up to the window and looked out. He only could imagine how Soap was feeling; after all this woman was ready to rape him. Price knew that Soap wouldn´t ever talk about it with him but the fact that Price knew what had happened to his friend made the situation difficult enough. Since Price knew him, Soap was a strong man, with a very rough appearance but deep inside Soap was a soft guy with a heart of gold. If Price would have been in his situation, he wouldn´t know what to do right now. Even if they were in their base, their home, where nothing bad would happen to him, it would be a big step to face the person who had made him feel like he was just a toy; only a piece of soulless flesh.

"Will I be alone with her?" Price heard Soap´s weak voice and snapped out of his thoughts. Price shook his head, walked over to the bed and leant against the cupboard, like he did yesterday.

"She wants Julia in there as well." Price explained and looked at him.

"Why´s that? Is she going?"

"I don´t know why she wants to see her. Mac is talking to her right now."

"Well." Soap said and stood up. "I´m going in."

Price smiled, pushed himself away from the cupboard and together both men left the room. Outside Julia and Mac were already waiting for them. Price exchanged a look with the General, both nodded and all four began to make their way back to the interrogation room. Mac and Price walked in the front and Julia and Soap followed them.

"You have any idea why she wants to see us?" Soap broke the silence in which they had been.

Julia just shook her head and avoided to look at him. Soap recognized she was looking down to her feet as she walked. He called her by her name twice but as she didn´t reply he grabbed her shoulder and forced her to stop walking. Price noticed that they had stopped and turned around, asking Soap what was going on. Soap told him they should keep on going and that they were coming soon after them. Price just nodded and he and the General kept moving. As they were out of sight Soap laid his other hand on Julia´s other shoulder and bend down, trying to look her in the eyes. Julia on her part turned her head every time he tried it to the other side. Soap sighted heavily, freed her from his touch and straightened up again.

"What´s wrong? Did I do anything to you?" He asked in a low voice and in an answer she just shook her head.

"Why do you avoid to look at me then?" He continued but she again just shook her head.

Soap raised his hands in frustration and rolled his eyes.

"Would you please talk to me and tell me what´s wrong? My prophesy skill isn´t the best." His comment made her smile a little. She took a deep breath and finally she turned her head and looked at him.

"It´s just I feel guilty. As I had the gun in my hands and Andrew asked me if I wanted to shoot you, I thought about it for a few seconds. I entered the room and couldn´t believe my eyes as he tried to kill you but to be honest I started too sympathetic with his offer to come with him. If he hasn´t mentioned Makarov´s name I´m sure I would have killed you." She said depressed and looked down to her feet again.

"You didn´t shoot me and I don´t blame you for your thoughts. If I had been in your situation I´m sure I´d have thought about shooting the man I barely know and rescue the one I love. In fact you saved my life twice and I don´t know if I´ll ever be able to thank you enough for that. Right now I just want you to know that I´m always there for you if you need someone to talk and now come on, we have a job to do." Soap gently put a hand on her shoulder again. Julia looked up to him, nodded and both continued to walk.

* * *

Soap stepped, followed by Julia into the interrogation room and both sat down. Julia kept staring at her hands and Soap needed all his courage to look Natasha in the eyes, who grinned at him and started to stroke a hand through her hair. All three sat in silence for a minute, before Natasha started to giggle. Soap stared at her confused and Julia raised her eyebrows, leering up to the woman. As Natasha recognized their puzzled looks she started to laugh louder and louder.

"What´s wrong? You look like I´m a crazy psycho. Never seen a person laugh?" Natasha asked still smiling. As Soap and Julia didn´t say anything Natasha let out a deep breath and got serious.

"Don´t you wonder why I wanted to see you two?" She asked and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Because you´re crazy." Soap answered angry.

"Oh poor Captain. You´re still not over our little romance? You regret that you stopped me? If you want to take your chance now I´m ready. Your croaky voice makes you even sexier." Natasha stated and licked her lips.

"No thanks." Soap told her in disgust and crossed his arms defensive.

"Well, your loss. I would show you things a woman could do that you never seen but when you refuse me can´t do anything against it." Natasha answered him playing offended and turned her gaze to Julia.

"What about you bitch? You want to know?" Natasha asked Julia snidely and Julia looked down to her hands again nodding. Natasha´s smile returned on her face and she leaned forward, resting her arms on the small table between them.

"Well, the Captain´s only here ´cause I wanted to see him once more but you´re here for a more important reason. Say, do your friends here know that you had sex with Andrew?" Natasha asked and smiled even wider as Julia lifted her head and looked at her with big eyes. Natasha was sure she hid her weak point and she enjoyed it. If she could she would make the life of that woman the living hell. If she would pull the strings in here she would make her suffer; suffer for what she did to Andrew.

"What? No answer? I think I take this as a no. Oh my god, it must be very embarrassing for you right now. I´m really sorry." Natasha said sarcastically and started to laugh loud and crazy.

Soap turned his head and turned to Julia, seeing her shocked face. He was about to say something to Natasha to shut the fuck up as Julia opened her mouth and began to speak.

"Well, thanks for saying it. It saves myself to explain what I did with the man who loved me." Soap first was shocked of the words coming out of Julia´s mouth but as he saw that Natasha lost her snobbish composure he knew she said it to make her guard drop. He watched somehow amused how tears built up in Natasha´s eyes.

"Andrew was a fool for loving you. He deserved much better. He deserved a real woman. He deserved me." Natasha yelled in anger.

"Really? Sure you´re beautiful but you have no brains." Julia said and crossed her arms.

"I have no brains? You have to talk. You shot the man who loved you. The man who talked about you every day since I met him. The one who would have done anything for you to be saved? The one who ignored orders from our leader only to spy on you. That´s pathetic, you´re pathetic." Natasha yelled and closed her eyes, tears running down her cheeks.

"You know what his biggest fear was? To die in a foreign country. To never see his home country again; to be forgotten by the ones he loved. Congratulation, you fulfilled his fears."

* * *

Soap looked at Julia and was sure she was going to cry but Julia just kept on staring at Natasha and didn´t show any emotion at all. He wondered if Natasha was telling the truth or if she was just lying to brake Julia. Soap closed his eyes and considered how he could bring the conversation to Makarov. They needed to know what she knew. They needed to find out if Makarov´s still alive. He took a breath and wanted to ask carefully as the door flung open wide and the General stepped in with a very pissed expression on his face. Soap and Julia watched him step up to Natasha and remove her handcuffs.

"What´s this all about?" Julia asked in disbelief and shot up from her chair. Soap did the same and looked confused at his superior.

"Her lawyer is here. He takes her back to Russia." Mac stated sour.

"Right now?" Soap asked confused. "Can´t you wait till the interrogation is over?"

"I´m sorry Captain. We have no choice. He has an extradition agreement which makes us let her go immediately." He General said as he dragged her to the door. Soap clenched his fists and wanted to say something more as Natasha turned around with a grin on her face.

"Vladimir´s not the only one." She stated and left the room amused.

"Are you ok?" Ghost asked Julia as she and Soap entered the observation room where he, Price, Roach and Ozone waited for them.

"Yes, I´m fine." Julia answered him and sat down next to him. Ghost nodded and watched Soap shaking his head.

"It didn´t went the way we planned it." Soap said in frustration and looked at Price who was leaning on the wall with closed eyes and crossed arms.

"I know. These Russian bastards couldn´t they have waited one more hour before they came here? It would´ve made things clearer." Price cursed and opened his eyes as he heard footsteps coming closer.

Mac entered the room and closed the door behind him. He gestured for all to take a seat and as they all sat he started to speak.

"Angela has called in Abu Dhabi. They say Makarov´s dead body is in their morgue, they even checked his identity once more. It´s definitely Makarov."

"It really was Andrew´s imagination then." Ghost said relieved, at least one good news.

"What if he didn´t meant that Makarov?" Julia asked and everyone looked at her.

"What? Do you think he has a family member who also is a terrorist?" Ozone asked surprised.

"Maybe, as Natasha left she said Vladimir is not the only one. It could be possible that Makarov had a family member who wants to continue his work." Julia answered and looked down.

"If anyone wants to continue his work, why would they wait? The war is over a few months. Wouldn´t it make more sense if they had worked together or continued his work immediately?" Roach asked and everyone was thinking about his words.

"It´s no harm if we check on Makarov´s family. I only wonder why Natasha has told us this. Either she just said it to confuse us or she thought we wouldn´t find out what she meant." Soap said and earned nods from the others in response.

"We shouldn´t think about her reasons now. We should start to gather every information we can get." Price said, got up from his chair and left the room.

"He´s right come on. We need to check everyone with the name Makarov." Soap told his soldiers and all of them left the room too. As Ghost was about to leave the room he looked at Julia and waited for her to join them.

"Are you coming?" He asked her standing in the door.

"Go on ahead. I´ll be right there. I have to talk to Mac." Julia answered him. Ghost nodded and closed the door behind him.

"What do you need?" Mac asked looking into her eyes. Julia sighted heavily and thought about the right words.

"I wanted to ask you what´s going to happen to Andrew?"

"The same that happens to every dead body. After the doctors have finished the autopsy they´re going to try and find any left family members and if they don´t find anyone he got cremated and buried on an anonymous cemetery. Why do you ask?" Mac explained calmly, unsure why she asked.

Julia looked at the General and smiled lightly. "I want to take him home."


	27. Figure out

**One Week later…**

Two days ago Mac had told Julia that she could go back home tomorrow, to take Andrew home and bury him on the cemetery where they placed his memorial stone as they thought he died in battle. Mac also had told her that she should take two weeks off, to get her mind free and to figure out what she wanted to do. He also offered her to work for him again in her old Task Force. As Julia asked him why he re-built the Force he just smiled and told her that she would put herself in danger anyway and if he built up the Force again he could at least watch her and make sure she didn´t do anything too risky.

Mac also made sure that Julia didn´t have to go all alone and ordered Toad to go along with her. At first Toad wasn´t that happy to leave the 141 and take a break but as Mac told him that the cemetery was in the hometown of his girlfriend he agreed with it. Toad even managed that he and Julia could stay at his girlfriend's parents' house. At first Julia did refuse, ´cause Toad only got one week off but as Toad told her his girlfriend was a nurse too and that they both would get along with each other she agreed.

A little nervous Julia sat on her bed and checked if Angela had contact her. After Mac had informed her that they were looking for any family members of Makarov Angela promised him to let him and Julia know if she found something out. Julia opened her e-mail folder only to see it was empty; Angela hasn´t found something out yet. Disappointed Julia closed her Laptop again, it was extremely difficult to get any information of Makarov´s family members. The whole Task Force searched for them for a week but none of them could find something important. The Russian Government wasn´t a great help as well. Since the war was over they didn´t share many information with other countries.

Julia put her laptop aside and laid down on her bed. She was really happy to leave the base tomorrow. It wasn´t that Julia didn´t like it to be here but after all what happened the last days she needed a break. She didn´t feel as much guilty as she felt a week ago, thanks to all the guys here who tried to do their best to cheer her up, but a little distance from the military life was exactly what she needed right now. She also was happy to finally after almost six years visit her home country. She would have the chance to maybe see some familiar faces and visit places she remembered from her youth.

* * *

Yawning Julia rolled onto her back and looked up to the ceiling. She was already tired but she had to stay awake ´cause Ghost asked her earlier if he could come to her when his work was done. Julia wondered what he wanted from her. Maybe he just wanted to say goodbye to her but he could do that tomorrow morning when everyone else was saying goodbye to her. A quick glance on her watch made her realize that she would be gone in ten hours. Their plane left early in the morning but the flight lasted only one hour. Julia would have taken a later flight but Toad had begged her to take the first possible flight and since Julia had her problems to deny a wish she agreed. Toad must really be in love with his girlfriend ´cause since he knew he would meet her, she was the only thing he talked about.

Julia closed her eyes and smiled at the thought how she was talking about Andrew Day and Night as their relationship was at its beginning. She annoyed all of her friends by telling them how much she loved him. Sometimes her friends just left her alone when they were too annoyed of her. As well she won´t ever forget that some of her friends told her that Andrew wasn´t good enough for her and that she deserved someone better. But Julia always told them that Andrew was really nice if you only get to know him.

Julia sighted. If she had known what would happen to Andrew, what he would become, maybe she would have listened to her friends and end the relationship before it got serious. Thinking about Andrew and their relationship she wondered if she ever would fall in love with a man or if the last events she had with him affected her too much to fall in love again. Mentally she slapped herself for thinking about that. Sure she would be able to love again, not every man she knew would become a psycho. For example she was sure that no soldier of the 141, no matter how bad their experiences were, would lose his mind and try to murder innocent people. Not even Ghost would do something so much selfish and he had definitely the hardest life of all. Somehow Julia felt sorry for him; he´s been through too much shit, too much for one person to handle it.

Frustrated she opened her eyes again and sat up again, she needed to stay awake, she promised it to Ghost. Thinking of him she still hasn´t figured out if he was just a very good friend or if she was in love with him. Some would say she was out of mind to think of her feelings towards Ghost just a week after she shot her ex-boyfriend, with whom she slept but a very intensive talk to a psychologist had made her realize that she only imagined to have still feelings for him. The psychologist also told her that she only recalled the old feelings to protect herself from getting hurt by the incredible Situation she was in. She had no clue how to find a way to get clarity about her feelings for Ghost. Should she just go to him and tell him about her messed up emotions? No, she couldn´t do that, when it comes to that kind of stuff she's always too shy. She was too afraid that he would laugh at her. She shook her head again, Ghost wouldn´t do that but still she hasn´t the courage to tell him about it.

Julia got up from her bed, stretched her back and looked out of her window. Outside everything was dark and Julia wondered what took Ghost that long. Maybe he had forgotten that he wanted to come. Maybe he was already asleep and she waited to no purpose. Julia kept staring out of the window and didn´t recognize that someone had knocked on her door. There was a second knock, to which Julia didn´t reply too. Silently the door got opened and someone slipped into her room not making a single sound.

* * *

As Julia felt a breath on her neck she jumped terrified and turned around fast. Julia recognized a skull face looking down to her and let out a deep breath, before she slapped him on his shoulder.

"Don´t do this ever again Ghost. You scared the shit out of me." Julia said smiling.

"It´s not my fault that you´re almost deaf. I knocked twice and you didn´t response." Ghost answered her and Julia swore she could see him smile underneath his mask.

"So you took it as a chance to enter my room without my permission. What would you have done if I´d be naked?"

"You wouldn´t be the first woman I see without any clothes on." Ghost told her and Julia just shook her head.

"Interesting Prince Charming. What took you so long anyways? You told me you´d come when your work is done." Julia smiled and crossed her arms.

"Sorry My Lady. I had to take a shower." Ghost answered giggling and took a bow, making Julia laugh.

"Apology accepted. Would you now be a good boy and tell me what´s so important for you that it can´t wait till tomorrow." Julia asked him and raised an eye brow as Ghost took his mask off.

"I just have to figure something out if it´s ok for you." Ghost told her and stepped up to her.

Julia stared at him with a questioning look on her face. She wondered what he wanted to do but didn´t stop him as he got closer and their noses touched. Ghost smiled warmly at her and she just stared into his eyes. Slowly Julia realized what Ghost intended and felt relieved. Now she wouldn´t make a fool out of herself. She had to admit that this was the best way to…..

Her thoughts got interrupted as Ghost gently pressed his lips on hers.


	28. Relationships

„So Chris, are you excited? " Julia asked Toad as they sat in the plane.

"Yes pretty much." Toad answered and closed his belt.

"It's been almost a year since I last saw my girlfriend." He continued and looked at her.

"That´s a long time. How long are you two together?"

"For five years now." Toad said smiling.

"That´s a long time." Julia returned his smile.

"Yes, I think she´s the one." Toad explained.

"Good to hear. Are you planning to marry her?" Julia got very interested.

Toad looked at her and blushed lightly. "Yes, definitely but first I have to propose to her." He answered.

Julia smiled even wider and closed her eyes as she heard the aviator speak that they were starting now. She didn´t like it to travel by plane and every time she was in one, she closed her eyes at the start, trying not to concentrate on the discomforted feeling in her stomach. Since she joined the military she often flight by plane but the nervous feeling still remained. As she felt the plane took off of the ground her thoughts drifted away to the urn, in which Andrew´s mortal remains where. She had managed to take them with her in the plane and now the urn was with their other luggage stored in the baggage cabin. When they arrived at home, she would immediately go to the cemetery and bury him. Mac had managed to call a priest, which was waiting for her there and would Andrew put into his last home.

Before she and Toad left the base, he told her he would come along and his girlfriend was driving them. Julia was glad that she he offered her to come with her; if she would go alone maybe she wouldn´t have the strength to bury Andrew. Even if he was a criminal, he still was her ex-boyfriend and Julia knew that she would never forget him. Sighing Julia tried to find a comfortable position in her seat, maybe she could rest a bit, even if the flight wasn´t taking too long.

* * *

"Do you think she´s coming back?" Roach asked Ghost as they both were jogging around the base.

"I don´t know. She had a hard time." Ghost answered and slowed down.

"True but I would be happy if she would come back." Roach said and slowed down too, to walk next to Ghost.

"We all were. It was a diversion to have her around." Ghost replied.

"You would be more than happy, wouldn´t you?" Gary pumped his shoulder against his friends and smiled aware.

"Why do you think that?" Ghost asked him calmly.

"Come on Ghost. I saw you yesterday as you left her room. It was pretty late to visit a woman without wanting something from her." Gary teased him and winked.

"Says the one who had a woman in his room the whole night." Ghost countered and smiled as Roach stopped smiling and looked away embarrassed.

"I don´t want her with me. She just came into my room and stayed. What should I have done?" Roach replied low voiced.

"Send her away?" Ghost asked and shook his head.

"That´s not so easy. She´s a stubborn girl. She wouldn´t have listened to me."

"Come on Roach. Why don´t you admit that you like her?"

"If I do will you tell me what you and Julia did last night?" Roach asked looking into Ghost´s eyes.

"Maybe." Ghost shortly answered and giggled.

Roach sighted, took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"When I´m thinking about it, the way she treats me, the way she talks to me and the way she tries to patch me up….Yes, I like her."

Ghost smiled and was about to reply to his friend as they heard a familiar voice.

"Who do you like?" Both turned in the direction the voice came from and saw their Captain coming out of the base. Surprised to see him Roach scratched his head and smiled innocently at him.

"He talked about Anna." Ghost told his Captain and stepped up to him, smiling.

"I see! Does Price know?" Soap asked and watched amused as Roach stared at him with eyes wide open, unsure what to say.

"So he don´t. You should better go and tell him. He surely wants to know that you´re gonna be his son-in-law." Soap added and took a sip from his coffee he was holding.

"Son-In-law? Don´t you think you pushing it a bit. It´s not like I´m going to marry her." Roach asked and waved his hands in defense.

"Oh, I would love to go on a wedding. Don´t you want to think about it?" Soap replied playing offended.

"No I won´t." Roach said as an idea crossed his mind.

"Maybe you have luck Captain and there is a wedding any time soon."

Soap looked at the Sergeant puzzled. What was he talking about? Was one of the Soldiers engaged and he doesn´t know? Confused he knitted his eye brows, thinking about the relationships his soldiers have. As he couldn´t come to any conclusion he asked Roach who he meant.

"Isn´t it obvious Captain? I talk about Ghost and Julia." Roach said and grinned to his best friend who earned an astonished look from their Captain.

"Don´t look at me like that John. I don´t know where the bug got the idea from." Ghost spoke still relaxed.

"Really not? Before Soap interrupted us you said you tell me what you and Julia did last night. I want to know it Ghost." Roach crossed his arms in front of his chest and smiled wide.

Soap just looked from Roach to Ghost._ What did Roach mean "last night"? Had they spend the night together? Were both of them lying as they said they weren´t in love with each other? Was that the reason Ghost was unlikely happy today? Would this relationship affect his work? Was Ghost leaving the Task Force to live a normal life with her? Were they already planning to have kids? Soap shook his head, his thoughts drifted too far away. It wasn´t like they have a long relationship. Maybe Julia wouldn´t even come back._

"Earth to John! Hello? Are you still in there?" Ghost asked his superior and waved his hand in front of Soap´s eyes.

"Now you´ve done it bug. He lost it."

"I haven´t done anything wrong. He was the one who teased me. I just told him what we were talking about." Roach said and placed himself in front of his Captain studying his face. It has lost all of his expressions and Roach clicked his fingers in front of Soap´s face, making the Captain come back to reality.

"Everything's fine?" Roach asked carefully.

Soap shook his head and showed a smile.

"Yes, I´m fine but now I want to know too what you did last night." Soap said and looked at Ghost.

"You won´t let me life in peace if I don´t tell you huh?" He asked and as his both friends nodded he sighted.

"We just figured out where we are." Ghost simply said and turned around to enter the base.

"What does that means?" Roach asked his Captain but earned just a head shake and a shrug of the Captain´s shoulders.

"I don´t know. Are you now together or what?" Soap asked as he followed Ghost inside of the base.

The Lieutenant Didn´t turn around to response and kept on walking. He smiled as he recognized that Roach and Soap were following him, whispering to each other. His friends were really curious about his relationship with Julia. Ghost knew that they both only wanted to know ´cause they were afraid that he would get hurt. He also knew both of them liked Julia very much and wanted to protect her as well. As Ghost stopped in front of his room he unlocked the door and glanced to the side, to see his friends had stopped next to him and waited for any response from him. Ghost didn´t pay much attention to them as he opened the door. Smirking he stayed in front of his door a second.

"Let´s just say she has soft lips." Ghost said, entered his room and closed his door again. Leaving his two friends in confusion.

* * *

"Over here sweetheart!" Julia heard a female voice screaming as she and Toad were outside of the airport. Ten minutes ago they had arrived at their destination and Julia was more than happy to find her feet on earth again. She looked in the direction the voice came from and saw a young woman waving at her and Toad. Toad began to smile bright and approached the woman fast. Julia followed him in some distance; she didn´t want to interrupt their first meeting after such a long time.

Julia smiled as Toad lifted the woman, which had flung her hands around him, in the air and kissed her passionate. Julia recognized the woman was crying tears of joy and even Toad let some tears slip out of his eyes. _They must be really in love _was all Julia thought as she leered to the both lovers still holding each other. Julia cleared her throat, making the couple look at her questioning. The woman released Toad from her embrace and offered Julia a handshake.

"Hi, I´m Caroline. You must be Julia right?" She asked as Julia took her hand and nodded.

"Chris had told me about you. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Julia replied smiling.

She surveyed the woman in front of her. Caroline had long dark hair, which she had bonded to a ponytail, brown eyes and was at least ten centimeters taller than Julia. She was of slight build and seemed to be really nice. Julia guessed she was in her mid-twenties.

"Where´s your car?" Toad asked his girlfriend and looked around.

"It´s right in front of you." Caroline answered amused and rolled her eyes.

Toad saw her action and playful he imitated her, what caused him a slap on his chest from his girlfriend. Caroline shook her head and headed towards her car and opened it. Toad and Julia put their luggage in the trunk and all three sat down in Caroline´s car. Julia hold the urn in her hands as she took a seat on the back seat. After Caroline had started the engine she asked Julia to what cemetery she wanted to go and as Julia told her the name of it Caroline pulled out of her parking lot and drove the way. Julia didn´t have to explain her the way and after a ten minute ride they arrived at their destination.

Getting out of the car Julia could already see the priest Mac had called. The man walked up to them and welcomed them with a hand shake. After he made sure they were the ones he waited for he asked them to follow him inside the cemetery. Slowly the walked across the huge graveyard, passing a lot of newly dug graves, side-effects of the war. Julia read the names written on them and noticed that she knew some of the people who were buried here. It made her sad that they didn´t have a chance and had to die. Many of them were too young to die; they had their whole lives to life. Julia swallowed hard as they walked pass the children graves, it was sad enough that there even was a need to make a separate space for the kids but the number of the graves made it even harder to handle it.

Soon after the children´s graveyard they arrived at an iron gate, which separated the soldiers' graves from the rest of the cemetery. The priest entered the place followed by Julia, Toad and Caroline and stepped up to a grave, which was dug out newly and the ground they shoved out was arranged in a pile beside it. With a heavy heart Julia handed the urn over to the priest and he put it down into the grave. He said a few words, the standard prayers and with a little shovel he spread some ground on the urn, before he stepped back and let Julia do the same. Caroline and Toad did the same, they thought it would be a sign of decency. Julia prayed once more, slipped her promise ring down her finger and laid it down in the grave. Silently they watched while the priest put the rest of the ground back in the grave and with a nod and a pat on Julia´s shoulder he left them.

Julia stood in front of the grave and stared on the words written on it. It was somehow sad that the only thing written on this stone was his full name and his rank in the military. Julia wondered if every soldier would get such an artless stone when they died. Sure if Andrew has had any family left as they made the stone for him it would be nicer but he had no parents and no siblings and no one had asked Julia back then if she wanted another stone. Sighing Julia closed her eyes and tried to avoid the tears that were building up in her eyes but lost the fight. She wanted to be strong in front of Toad and his girlfriend but she couldn´t hold back the sad feeling that grew up in her. She hasn´t felt so helpless in years.

Julia was about to turn around, away from the sight field of Toad and his girlfriend as suddenly she got pulled into a hug and someone stroke her back. In a Reflex Julia put her arms around the person and cried even more. Toad smiled afflicted but yet happy as he watched Julia and his girlfriend standing there still hugging. He was sure they would get along with each other very well.


	29. Vitaly

„Mum, Dad! We´re here!" Caroline yelled as they entered her parents' house.

"We´re in the living room honey." A woman yelled back.

With a hint Caroline signed Toad and Julia to follow her. All three made their way through the large corridor of the ground floor; Julia looked around and had to admit that Caroline´s place was really nice decorated and cleaned. Somehow the house reminded her of her own home; it had a friendly and welcoming atmosphere and was built in a quiet location, a few kilometers out of the city, in a little village. All around the house were trees and Julia saw as they arrived that there was a lake not far away from the estate. It was a very nice environment to relax and the totally opposite of the 141 base. Passing a stair, which led to the next floor, Caroline opened a door and all three stepped into a big room. In the middle of it was a large cream-colored couch with a wooden coffee table in front of it. Julia looked around and saw a big wooden closet covering a whole side of the room, on the two windows opposite of it she could see some sorts of potted flowers; a door next to the windows let to a huge balcony from which the lake was in a good view. The room itself was painted in a bright yellow shade and on the walls were hanging a lot of pictures.

"Chris! Nice to see you. How long has it been since you visit us the last time?" Julia heard the female voice from before and turned her attention to the woman who spoke.

"It´s been quite a while. Almost a year." Toad answered to the woman as she hugged him.

"You haven´t changed much. How´s the work? You still have to stay in the military?" The woman asked him as she studied him and smiled brightly.

"Everything´s fine at work. We had a hard time the last months but I´m fine. Yes, it's my work, of course I have to stay there." Toad answered and scratched his head a little insecure.

"You know I would be happier if you would leave the military and start to have a family with my daughter. How long do I have to wait till I become a grandma?" Caroline´s mother asked somehow disappointed.

"Mum, stop it. I told you I don´t want to have kids right now and if Chris is happy with his work and the way our relationship is right now, I´m happy too." Caroline said and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever you say honey but believe me someday you will regret that you don´t have kids." Her mother answered and turned her gaze to Julia, who just stood there and smiled at the woman.

Caroline recognized the stare her mother shot Julia and cleared her throat, making her mother look at her. Caroline shook her head slightly and raised one eye-brow.

"Mum that´s Julia. She is going to stay here for two weeks." Caroline explained and her mother stepped up to Julia, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you. I´m Caroline´s mum." Her mum said and smiled at Julia.

"Nice to meet you too." Julia replied smiling.

"Where´s dad by the way? I thought he´s with you?" Caroline asked and looked around.

"He was, he went down the cellar to get something to drink. Why don´t you all sit down? I´m going to make something to eat." Caroline´s mum stated and dragged them onto the couch.

A little embarrassed Caroline watched her mum leave the room and go into the kitchen. She apologized for her behavior and said that her mum was always concerned about her relationship to Chris. Julia told her it was okay for her and that her mum seemed really nice to her; she had to admit this woman reminded her of her own mother. Julia wondered if she should visit the house of her parents, unsure if she could handle the feelings that would bring this up. At the thought of her parents Julia got sad, as she left her home six years ago she wouldn´t have thought that it would be the last time she saw her parents. If she had known back then that her parents would die in the war, she would have took the time to visit them. Julia shook her head, this wasn´t the right time to think about the past. She needed to look forward to the events that would come.

To shorten the time they were waiting till Caroline´s mum was done with cooking, Caroline showed Julia the house and the room she could sleep the time she was here. It was a small room with a sleeping couch in it, a little cupboard and a TV. There even was a separated toilette which Julia could use. The last thing Caroline showed her was the cellar, in which Caroline thought they would meet her dad but he wasn´t there anymore. So both women left the cellar again and as they arrived in the living room Caroline´s dad was there talking to Toad. As he saw the two women his eyes grew wide. He shot up from his spot, smiled at Julia and pulled her into a hug.

"Julia! Good to see you!" Caroline´s dad said enthusiastic and Julia as well as Caroline stared at him with mouths wide open. Toad himself just stared at his future father-in-law and made a very surprised face.

"Ohm…yeah, nice to see you sir." Julia said short taken and looked at Caroline help seeking. Caroline just rolled her eyes and stepped up to his dad, laying one hand on his shoulder.

"So you heard as I introduced her? Dad how often have I told you to not give hugs to every girl that´s in our house?" Caroline told him and shot him an annoyed look. Her father looked at her and wanted to say something to defend himself as Caroline shook her head slightly and leered to Toad. Her father followed her look and seemed to remember something.

"Of course I heard you introduce her. It´s not like I would have met her before. Right Julia?" Caroline´s father began to laugh weirdly and punched Julia on her shoulder.

"That´s right." Julia supported the man and looked at Toad who had turned his attention back to the magazine he was reading. Caroline let out a deep breath and called her mum to ask how long she needed to get the meal ready. As response her mother told her to set the table and five minutes later all of them were sitting at the dining table, eating in silence.

"So Julia. You´re a nurse two? When did you finish your education?" Caroline´s mother asked.

"I finished in 2011 and right after that I started to work in the military." Julia explained and took a sip from the juice Caroline´s mother had given her.

"That´s almost six years. How old are you by the way?" Now it was Toad who asked.

"I´m going to be 29 in a few months."

"Really? I never assumed you´re that old." Toad said somehow embarrassed.

"I know I look younger then I´m." Julia answered and smiled. The rest of the meal they were talking about different themes such as how Toad and Caroline met and how the war affected the live in this town.

After the meal Julia told Caroline that she was going to rest a bit and went to the room she could sleep in. Julia laid on her bed and turned her mobile phone on, which she had switched off as they left the base. It didn´t took long till she got the first message. Wondering who had send her a message she looked on the screen and saw that it was Ghost. With a smile she opened it and as she read what he wrote her smile grew even wider. Ghost had reported her that Roach and Soap knew that he was with her last night and tried to find out what they did. Curious she asked him what he told them and after a short wait Ghost wrote that he only told them she would have soft lips. Headshaking Julia tipped an answer and as Ghost wrote back she laid her phone aside smiling. If she would go back there would be a lot of things to be explained. Exhausted but happy Julia closed her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

"I found something." Roach said happily as he entered the conference room. Price who was studying a list of persons with the surname Makarov looked up at him.

"Something interesting?" He asked and raised an eye brow as Roach laid a piece of paper in front of him.

"I think so. I got a friend at the FBI and he send me this picture." Roach explained and pointed on a little picture in the corner of the paper. Interested Soap who was sitting on a computer joined the conversation.

"Who´s that?" Soap asked and studied the picture.

"His name is Vitaly Makarov. He`s a Doctor of Physic and worked for the US Government till he surprisingly disappeared." Roach told them.

"How does this helps us?" Soap asked curious.

"Well you see. This picture was taken in Moscow one week ago but the more interesting part is that he was on an airport to pick someone up who was forced to go back to Russia. You won´t believe me who this person was." Roach said smiling.

"Come on Gary. We´re not in the right mood to play quiz games right now." Soap said.

"Fine, Mr. Killjoy. He was there to pick the lovely Natasha up." Roach announced disappointed.

"What? Are you serious?" Price raised his voice and Roach just nodded.

"So this means she meant him. Do you know how he and the Makarov we now are connected to each other?"

"Sure. Their brothers."

"Brothers?" Soap asked in disbelief.

"Yes, why are you so skeptical about it? Never imagined that even a villain could have a brother?" Roach asked somehow amused as he saw the puzzled look on his Captain´s face.

"That´s not why I ask but their names are Vladimir and Vitaly? Like the Klitschko brothers."

"Who are the Klitschko brothers?" Now it was Roach who had a puzzled look on his face.

"Never heard of them? What kind of sports do you Americans know? Their famous boxers." Soap explained but Roach just shrugged his shoulders.

"I never was a great fan of boxing. It´s just as boring as Formula 1."

"Well your loss but what can we do with this information? We have a name fine and we know that he was probably the one Andrew and Natasha talked about but why is he that dangerous?"

"I don´t know but he´s a physicist and my contact told me he was responsible for the advancement of biomechanical weapons."

"What? Are you serious?" Price shot up from his chair and yelled at the Sergeant.

"Yes, that´s what he told me." Roach said scared of the Captain´s reaction.

"Then we need to tell it Mac. With this knowledge he could repeat the incidences that happened in London and Paris as the toxic gas killed a lot of people there." Price rushed out of the room to find the General.


	30. Orders

„So you think he´s going to use his knowledge of the biochemical weapons to start a new war? " Mac asked Price, who had stormed like a wild animal, into his room.

"What else could he do? Roach said he disappeared. Isn´t it strange that he appears right now?" Price explained and sat down on the chair in front of the General´s desk.

"He´s in Russia right? Then it´s none of our business." Mac answered and took a seat opposite of Price.

"None of our business? That´s ridiculous Arthur. He could cause a new war and you tell me to sit here with the knowledge of it and don´t give a fuck?" Price yelled in anger, staring at his friend. Mac just shook his head and started to open some files, which were laying on his desk.

"Didn´t we have enough trouble the last time? I´m sure if he is a risk for the world the Government in Russia watches him. He´s out of our field of activity." Mac said and wrote something down in the files he was studying.

"Fuck it Mac. Did the Government recognize that Vladimir Makarov was a risk? Did they watch his actions? No, they didn´t give a shit. Why should it be different now?" Price yelled again but Mac didn´t answer and just kept on writing.

Price sat there, looking uncomprehend at his friend for a few minutes and then left the room, cursing. He couldn´t believe why Mac was so indifferent on the information he gave him. This Vitaly could be a greater danger then his brother was and that was the biggest fear Price had right now. Makarov himself was a bad ass no one could even imagine, a monster send straight from hell to punish humanity. Price swore to himself that he would never let a single man gain such terrible power and destroy the lives of innocent people.

Depressed Price entered the conference room again and slipped down on a chair. He looked around and recognized the rest of the men were gone. Headshaking he took a cigar out of his pocket, lighted it and read over the piece of paper Roach had laid down on the table. He read that this Vitaly had worked for the US Government for about five years, without any sign of violent acts. His co-workers described him as a very friendly, solid and helpful man, who never minded to help others in their work. He also had a wife and a son, who still lived in the USA. No one did know why he disappeared suddenly; his wife only remembered he watched a report about his brother the last time she saw him.

Unsatisfied Price laid the piece of paper aside and took a deep drag from his cigar; watching the smoke floating through the room, till it disappeared. He sighted heavily and closed his eyes. Since when was Mac so strict and stubborn in giving orders and followed the record without balancing the pros and cons that they included. He wondered if Mac got so serious about everything since he was a General. Years ago as he was just a Captain he often ignored orders if it was for the sake of humanity. Back then Price couldn´t understand why he did this but as he himself got a Captain he knew that Mac did it not only to satisfy himself; he did it for the people he wanted to protect. Price opened his eyes again, put his half smoked cigar into the ashtray and decided to leave the room; he needed to talk to Soap and get to know what he was thinking about all that.

* * *

Trolling through the corridors of the base Price took a look in every single room to find his friend. Most of the rooms were empty, only in the recreation room he found Worm and Archer playing some sort of card game. Price stepped up to them and watched them play a while, before he asked them if they had seen their Captain. Shortly Archer only told him he saw him not long ago heading to the infirmary. Price thanked the Soldier, turned on his heel and hurried to the infirmary. As he opened the door, he could already hear Soap´s voice; the last week his voice had got something of its distinctive strength back. Price followed the voice and stepped into the doctor`s room.

"So you need some medicine to sleep?" The doctor asked with one eye-brow raised.

"I told you already. Why is this such a big deal?" Soap answered somehow stressed and crossed his arms.

"You as the Captain should know that I can´t give you medicine without any good reason. If you tell me why you need them I may change my opinion." The doctor replied with a smile.

"What do you think why I need them? I can´t sleep."

"That´s not a good reason. I need to know what keeps you awake. Is it ´cause you can´t get your mind free, are you too stressed, do you have nightmares?" The doctor said calmly and stared at Soap, waiting for him to give him a clear answer. Soap returned his stare for a while, made an annoyed sound and shook his head.

"It´s kind of a mix. I lay down to sleep and always think about what´s going to happen next and when I´m finally asleep I have nightmares." Soap finally stated.

"What are your nightmares about?" The doctor kept on asking and wrote something down on a piece of paper.

"Does this really matter?" Soap whispered; he wasn´t in the mood to tell the doctor what his dreams were about.

"Sometimes it helps to talk about the things that stress us. Maybe you should go and talk to the psychologist, she could help you if you have something that burdens you."

"Before I go and talk to any psychologist again, I prefer to have nightmares. They always talk shit about hidden feelings and fears I have. I exactly knew my own fears and feelings. I don´t need someone who explains me how to live with them." Soap answered, anger swinging in his voice.

"If you´re aware of your fears and feelings then you can tell me what your nightmares are about. I don´t want to hear any details, just tell me the main problem of your dreams." The doctor said and kept on writing down. Soap inhaled sharply, hold his breath back for a few seconds and exhaled deeply.

"I dream about Natasha and her way to torture me." Soap said and looked down to the floor, unable to look in the eyes of the medic.

"Well I see. I give you some pills but don´t take more than one, if you can´t sleep after one we need to find another way to get you rested." The doctor finally said, stood up from his chair and walked over to his medicine cabinet, taking a small white box out.

He checked the content in the box and handed it over to MacTavish, who took it with a nod and turned around, facing Price. The young Captain stared at him in surprise, how long has he stood there? Has he overheard their conversation? Why didn´t he noticed Price stood behind him? Really pissed Soap glared at Price and squeezed himself out of the door, pushing Price hardly out of the way. The older Captain looked at Soap with a mix of pity and astonishment; one brow arched and his lips puckered. Soap recognized the stare he shot him, shook his head angry and mumbled something as he walked to the exit. He needed a smoke right now.

* * *

Opening the back door, which led outside he put the small box into his chest pocket and pulled a box of cigarettes out of his pants. He let the door shot with a clunk, pulled his lighter out and lit the cigarette, which rested between his lips. He took a deep drag and his eyes swept over the area around him. The snow still covered the whole ground and Soap knew it wouldn´t melt any time soon. He took another drag and started to shiver; it was definitely too cold to go outside, dressed like he was. But Soap didn´t mind the coldness that surrounded his body, it made him at least feel. Since Natasha had played her game with him the only thing he could really feel was desperation. Sure he laughed, made his jokes and tried to forget what she did to him; but deep inside he was a broken soul, which wished to find salvation.

Hearing the door behind him get opened he turned his head only to see that Price had followed him. Soap bristled with anger; couldn´t he be on his own at least for a good smoke. He watched Price step up to him and turned his gaze back to the snow covered ground. Hadn´t Price heard enough? Was he here to give him the friendly advice to listen to the doctor and go and talk to the psychologist? Or was he here to satisfy his own curiosity about Soap´s messed up feelings? Didn´t he know enough already? He had seen the tapes from his capture; he had seen what Natasha did to him and Soap didn´t want to re-live the events with his friend. It was enough for him to re-live it in his dreams. Leering to Price, who was standing next to him Soap began to open his mouth to speak.

"What do you want Price? Haven´t you heard enough?" He said angrily and kept his eyes on his friend.

"I´m not here to talk about your mental state if it's that what you think. I just wanted to tell you that Mac says we´re not going after Vitaly Makarov." Price said staring into the air.

"That doesn´t surprise me." Soap answered shortly, eyes still on his friend.

"So what do you think about all this? Should we really don´t give a shit about him?" Price kept on asking.

"I don´t know but Mac´s our General. We have to follow his orders. It doesn´t matter what we think about his decision." Soap answered and flipped his cigarette on the ground, ready to go back inside.

"That´s all you have to say? You know better than anyone else that we must do something to stop this madness. What if he starts a new war? What if he kills thousands of innocent people? Could you live with that? Could you displace the fact that we could have stopped him?" Price yelled frightened of Soap´s reaction. Since when did Soap follow such ridiculous orders?

The young Captain stood in front of the door, he had just opened and didn´t move. He could understand Price´s point of view. He understood why he wanted to stop Vitaly before he did something terrible. But Soap couldn´t support his friend's opinion; he hasn't got the strength to keep up with a new fight. He couldn´t allow himself to get hurt anymore; he wouldn´t ignore orders anymore. It has caused too much pain to Soap´s soul the last time he tried to satisfy his own curiosity. Sure he was aware of the fact that thousands of innocent people could get killed but he decided it was time for him to be more selfish. Indeed the last time he acted selfish it caused him this pain he wanted to forget but this time it was different. This time he would get hurt if he didn´t think about himself. Heavy hearted Soap turned around one last time, giving Price a look of pain.

"I don´t care old man. I really don´t." Soap said shortly and went back inside, leaving an astonished Price behind, who couldn´t trust his ears.


	31. Talking

** Donakiko: I´m really sorry the last chapter made you cry, all I can do is to apology for that. I read your review and to cheer you up, hopefully, I began to write the next chapter and I´m glad I could finish it today. This chapter might be rather depressing too but I tried to minimize Soap´s hurt feelings and give him some of his strength back. Hope you´re not angry at me for making you sad. **

**But now enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

The half-filled glass of scotch stood in the middle of the table, its owner sat alone in the darkness, resting his head in his hands. It was past midnight and everyone was asleep, only the lonely man was up, getting deeper into his thoughts. Sighing of how weak he had become mentally he closed his eyes, a single tear slipping out of his eyes. He couldn´t remember when he cried last time; was his life ever so fucked up? Shaking his head he slowly let his arms drop onto the table, grabbing the glass with a shaking hand and taking a gulp. He felt his throat burn, the distinctive taste of alcohol filled his mouth and he tried to enjoy it. Still holding the glass he smiled tortured. The pill the doctor gave him didn´t work, he couldn´t get any sleep. He had wondered if he should take another but he promised the doctor to follow his orders and not take more. As he had laid himself down, tossed and turned but couldn´t rest he decided that alcohol would help. Maybe. He was sure of the fact that it wouldn´t make him sleep but at least he could bury the sad feeling that had taken control of him.

He raised the glass once more and emptied it. He could already feel the effect of the alcohol, starting to get into his head but he filled the glass once again. He didn´t care if he would have a hangover in the morning, the others sure wouldn´t even notice. And if they would, he was the Captain, he didn´t have to explain himself. He didn´t even give a shit about the General, the worst thing he could do was to send him home and right now he would go without any resistance. Maybe it would have been better if he had died in Prague or if Julia had shot him, he wouldn´t have to worry about himself, his teammates or the world's peace. As he thought about his survival he started to think that all this mess he was in was not his own fault; it was Julia´s. Couldn´t she just let him die? Why couldn´t she stay out of business? Why he of all people? Why didn´t she just shoot him? Why she had to rescue him?

Somehow afraid of his own thoughts he shook his head. It wasn´t her fault, she didn´t save him to let him suffer. She didn´t even know what Natasha had did to him. If he thought about it deeply, she didn´t even know him and he didn´t even know her. Maybe he should have an intensive talk with her if she comes back. Maybe she had a good advice for him this time; maybe she knew how to handle the feelings that overwhelmed him. Sighing again he lifted the glass once more and emptied it with only one gulp. Putting it back on the table he checked the bottle of Scotch he had brought along. As he entered the room it was full and till now he had drank the half; without getting the positive effect he thought drinking would have. He shrugged his shoulders; maybe he needed to drink more. He reached for the bottle to pour the content into his glass again as suddenly the door to the room got opened. Surprised he let the bottle slip out of his hand; making it burst on the floor. He cursed loudly, who in hell was up that late? Who dared to disturb him in his self-doubts? Impatient he waited for the troublemaker to switch the light on.

* * *

Wondering who sat in the room in completely darkness she switched the light on and met with the eyes of the young Captain. She could tell he looked very troubled and somehow hurt? Swallowing hard she closed the door and stepped further into the room, seeing the shattered pieces of the bottle on the floor. In a reflex she stepped up to the mess on the floor, kneeled down and began to pick the pieces up. The burning smell of alcohol in her nose, she carefully collected every shred of the glass she could take into her hands and threw them in the dustbin, which was near her. She looked around, trying to find a broom to sweep the rest of the bottle up. The Captain must have recognized what she was looking for, stood up from his spot, opened a small wooden door and came out of the storeroom with a broom and a dustpan. She watched him kneel down and sweep the rest of the glass up, putting it all into the dustbin. The Captain sat down again and stared down on his hands, not saying a single word to her. She wondered what had gotten into him.

Pretty insecure she took a seat next to him, watching him closely. Had he cried? His eyes were red and they seemed to stare expressionless into the nothing. She was pretty sure that something bad had happened to the man; something he needed to talk about. Unsure if she was the right person to talk to him she kept quiet, her eyes still resting on him. Recognizing how his hands began to tremble she laid one of her hands on it and Soap stared at her. She just gave him a warmly smile and accepted him to tell her she should go away but the Captain didn´t make a sound. She felt that something weighted heavily on him; she needed to make him talk.

"What´s going on here Captain? Why are you sitting here alone in the darkness?" She softly asked him, not wanting to upset him.

Soap struggled with himself. Should he talk to her? Could she help him? She was a very strong woman, he was sure of that. Otherwise she wouldn´t be Price´s wife but could he trust her? He barely knew her but maybe for this reason she was the right person to talk to. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. He should give it a try. It couldn´t get any worse.

"Can´t sleep. Nightmares keep me awake." He said carefully.

"Side effect of the work?" She asked him and he opened his eyes again to look at her. He thought about her words for a moment and nodded.

"Have you talked to a doctor about it?" She continued to ask and he nodded.

"He gave me some pills but they didn´t work." He answered.

"So you tried it with alcohol?" She asked somehow worried.

"It was the only thing I thought that would help me to forget about my nightmares." He stated and leered to his empty glass.

"It perhaps makes you forget but it doesn´t solve any problems." She said and slid the glass aside, making Soap look back at her.

"What else could I do? I don´t know what to do anymore." Soap whispered and shook his head, the bad memories coming back.

"Share your problems. Talking always helps, it might hurt, I admit that, but you will feel better after you got it off your chest." She told him and smiled.

"That´s easier said than done. I never was one who shares his emotions with others. I´m not a simple Soldier, I´m a Captain, we don´t have the time to let our emotions take control of ourselves. All we have to do is work and be strong for the people which need our help and our team."

"Is this really what you think? You're no machine Captain. Sure you have to focus more than anyone else on your work but who says that you have no right to show your emotions? Who tells you how to live your life? I´m sure you, as the Captain of this Task Force, know about the emotions every single soldier in your team has. So why do you think you´re not allowed to show your feelings?"

In his head Soap repeated the words Gisela had told him. Deep inside he knew she was right; he absolutely knew the emotions of his team; he knew that Roach was nervous before every mission; he knew that Worm always got excited every time they went to a country they never where before; he knew that Poet´s biggest passion was to write stories about their life here; he actually knew that Ghost loved it to be around the others. So why did he try to handle his emotions all by himself? Why didn´t he talk to Price about his feelings after the torture? Why didn´t he support him as he told him Mac didn´t give a shit about Vitaly´s actions? Why was he too blind to see that his friend needed him? Why did he allow Natasha to take control over his life? He shook his head, he should take the opportunity to talk and get rid of all that crap that strained him.

"As Andrew got me captured and Julia left me alone in this room, there was that woman, Natasha. She came into the room and tried to satisfy her anxiety for physical satisfaction. At first I tried to escape from her touch but I was bond and she had a knife, with which she forced me to stop my movements. She kissed me and I thought she would be satisfied if I just kiss her back. I really thought she would leave me but I was wrong. As she recognized I was kissing her back she slipped her hands down into my pants and….well….she tried to….rape me." Soap said and looked down to his hands; he felt tears built up in his eyes again.

He tried to hold them back, he was a grown up man, it wouldn´t fit him to cry like a little child. He struggled hard with himself, he swallowed and tried to breathe steady but as Gisela laid one hand on his back and told him it would be okay, he began to sob and the tears ran down his cheeks like waterfalls. Soap didn´t know how long he sat there crying but he was thankful that Gisela didn´t say anything to him while he was crying. She just sat there, her hand resting on Soap´s back and watched him cry. It wasn´t an unusual scene for her; she had seen the strongest man cry and she knew Soap would feel better after he let his tears out. She was sure he would be able to handle the whole situation better.

* * *

After a while Soap had cried his eyes out and he had to admit it felt good. He exhaled deeply and whipped his eyes dry with the sleeve of his pullover. A little smile formed on his lips as he turned to face Gisela again.

"Thanks." He said shortly and watched her getting up from her spot.

"No need to thank me Captain. I told you talking would help." She said and made her way to the door.

"Gisela?" Soap called her name and she looked back at him.

"If I can do something for you let me know." Soap told her and she nodded.

"That´s a great offer Captain. Maybe someday I come back to it. You should try to sleep now." Gisela said and opened the door, before she turned around once more and looked serious at him.

"Remember Captain, we all have our demons, the only thing that matters is to face them and realize that they only can hurt us if we allow it." With this statement she left the room.

Soap smiled and stood up; she was right. He was sure he never could completely forget what Natasha had done to him but he would do anything he could to make the best out of this experience and turn the pain she caused to him into strength. Strength to protect the people he cared of; strength to stop every crazy human who tried to destroy the world. Soap left the room and walked to his room. He laid himself down and felt into sleep.

A sleep without nightmares.


	32. Leaving?

**After the last two chapters were really depressing I decided one more happier. I hope you like it and enjoy to read :)**

* * *

Still tired Roach made his way to the mess hall; it was time for breakfast and he needed to hurry if he wanted to eat something of the good stuff. Passing Ghost´s room he saw that his door was slightly opened. Curious if his friend had just forgot to close it he stepped up to it and leered through the small crack; he couldn´t see his friend but he heard him talk to someone. He listened carefully and heard Soap´s voice coming out of the room too. What were they talking about? He got to know. Magnetized he rested his head on the doorframe, trying to catch the words his friends spoke.

"I´m telling you Ghost. Talk about it and you will feel better." Soap advised his second in command with a smile. The Captain had a really good sleep, thanks to Gisela, and now he wanted to convince his friend to talk about Julia with him.

"Where do you have this wisdom from? I already told you I´m not talking to you about her. It´s something between her and me. So please stop asking." Ghost answered frustrated and rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on. I thought I´m one of your best friends. Why don´t you want to share your feelings with me? I won´t laugh at you, no matter what you tell me. I promise." Soap said and smiled as he saw the astonished look on Ghost´s face.

"Leave it John, I´m serious. What makes you think I´ll feel better after I talked to you? I mean I don´t even feel bad so would you now please let me go and get something to eat? I´m starving." Ghost said and wanted to leave his room but got stopped from Soap who blocked the door grinning.

"No, I won´t let you go out of this room before you haven´t tell me what I want to know." Soap stated and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Forget it you Maniac. You can´t keep me in here, I can go wherever I want." Ghost replied and tried to push Soap out of the way but the clever Captain acted pretty fast and threw himself back to the door, making it shut. Both men heard a painful scream from outside of the room and stared at each other for a moment, unsure who made that noise.

"Who was that?" Soap asked Ghost and shot him an astonished look.

"I don´t know Sherlock. It came from outside of the room." Ghost answered and shrugged his shoulders.

With a mix of curiosity and mystification Soap slowly opened the door and leered out of it. He turned his head to both sides but couldn´t see anyone. He knitted his eyebrows and wanted to tell Ghost that no one was in sight as he heard another whine and turned his attention down to the floor, where the noise came from. Soap shot the person laying on the floor a wide-eyed stare, before he started to laugh. Ghost who was still standing behind the door wondered what made his friend laugh so badly. He pushed Soap aside and opened the door just to see Roach crumpled on the floor and holding his nose. Ghost smiled a little and stepped out of the door.

"So were you listening?" He asked Roach, who laid there in pain, earning a nod from him.

"Why are you two so curious about my relationship to her?" Ghost shook his head and leered at Soap, who tried his best to stop laughing.

"You´re our best friend. We only want to know if you're happy." Roach whispered as he stood up from the floor and checked if his nose was alright.

"That´s all?" Ghost asked him in disbelief.

"Yes, what have you thought?" Soap confirmed Roach´s statement and patted Ghost on the back.

"I don´t know. I started to think one of you is in love with me." Ghost said with a smirk and made his way to the mess hall. Soap and Roach looked at each other with a puzzled look, before both of them shook their heads and followed Ghost on his way.

* * *

"You thought Roach is in love with you right?" Soap asked as he caught up with Ghost.

"Hey, that´s not fair Captain why me?" Roach asked huffy, shooting Soap a killing glance.

"Why not? I mean sometimes you act like a little girl and besides I´m more of a man then you are." Soap replied smiling.

"Really? Then tell me Captain why do I have a girl who shares with me the night and you don´t? I truly think Ghost was talking about you." Roach said and smiled as his Captain tried to complain but didn´t find the right words.

"Shut it Roach. Just shut it. If I would want to I could have every girl in the world." Soap finally said.

Ghost listened to the conversation his two friends were having and just smiled. It was too easy to distract them from a serious topic. He was sure they wouldn´t ask him about Julia the rest of the day. He thought about telling them the truth about their relationship but he had promised Julia he would keep quiet. At least till she came back; in case she would come back. He wanted to ask her since she left if she would come back but he was too afraid she would say no. He wouldn´t blame her if she wanted to stay away from the military but he would prefer she would come back.

Entering the mess hall Ghost pushed his thoughts aside and walked straight up to the food counter to gather his breakfast. As he had all the food he needed right now he took a seat on one of the tables and began to stuff himself with everything that was on his tray.

"Wow you´re really hungry." Roach stated as he sat next to Ghost and began slowly to eat.

"That´s what I told to Soap but he thought it would be funny to keep me in my room and ask these unimportant questions." Ghost answered him with his mouth full of scrambled eggs.

"Hey, no need to spit your food on mine." Roach squeaked as some of Ghost eggs landed on his tray.

"Stop being such a pussy Roach. It´s not like I have some infectious disease." Ghost said amused.

"It´s just disgusting. You have no manners man." Roach replied and pushed his tray away from Ghost´s spew area. The Lieutenant just shook his head of Roach´s childish behavior and continued to eat.

Soap watched his two friends from his spot with a little smile. He was more than happy to have them both here. He knew they had a hard time but they were still acting like nothing bad had happened to them. Soap wondered if they had talked about her problems to someone. Probably they talked to each other ´cause both were in the same situation. Both had made the same bad experience with their former General. Thinking about Sheperd Soap wondered if MacMillian was going to become the same arsehole he was. Why was their General so stubborn and didn´t see the danger that was coming from Makarov´s brother? Why didn´t he at least try to pull some strings and contact the Russian Government to tell them about their speculation? Did he really believe the world wasn´t in danger?

* * *

Soap finished his breakfast, cleaned his spot and left the mess hall to look for Price. He needed to talk to him and apologize for his grumpy behavior yesterday. It didn´t took him long to find Price in his room, arguing with his daughter.

"But dad! Why can´t I stay here?" Anna said visible disappointed.

"We´re here in a military base. There´s no place for you. You don´t even work for the military." Price rolled his eyes as he tried to explain his daughter why she had to leave.

"So if I join the military I can stay here? Well, then I will, what do I have to do for that?" Anna asked serious. Price shook his head, she still was his stubborn little girl.

"It´s not that easy. You can´t just say you want to join and think it´s all lovey-dovey in here. We have a dangerous job to do. Besides you have to pass the selection first and then it´s not sure where they send you to absolve your training. Why do you even want to stay? Is it because of Sanderson?" Price replied with a little smile on his lips.

"You're really not the right person to talk about the feelings I have for Gary." Anna stated embarrassed and looked at her father with big eyes.

"Anna." Price began to say and laid his hands on his daughter's shoulders. "It´s your business if you like him, but you have to understand that he´s a Soldier. He has a dangerous work. You really think you could handle with the fact that he might get killed on a mission? Are you ready to wait for him if he doesn´t come home for months? Do you really think he´s the man you want to have as a boyfriend?"

Somehow surprised of her father´s reaction Anna looked at him and thought about the best way to tell him that she didn´t care. Sure she knew how dangerous his job was and she also was aware of the fact that she might not have the chance to see him for months. But Anna really liked Gary, he was the man she was looking for, for so long. He had been through so many shit, had seen so many pain, but to Anna he was the man of her dreams. Sighing Anna got an idea.

"I know it won´t be easy but I´m ready to give it a try. I mean sure I´m aware of the fact that we´ll not see each other a long time and I know you are concerned that me and him end up like you and mum. It´s just I really like him and I promise you I won´t do anything that will hurt him or me." Anna said and looked up to her father, who shook his head slightly and smiled.

"I´m sure you won´t end up like your mum and I. I´m glad you actually admit that you like him, it was getting pretty ridiculous to watch you sneak into his room." Price told his daughter and Anna just smiled puzzled at him.

"Ok dad. Whatever you say. I think I´m going now, there´s a Soldier I want to spend my time with before I have to leave." Anna smiled, turned around and left the room, giving Soap, who was standing in the door frame a wink. Soap smiled and shook his head, before he turned his gaze towards Price. His friend looked at him with an eye-brow raised and shook his head.

"You should really think about having kids. Sometimes it´s hard to get along with them." Price said and sat down on his couch.

"I don´t know what you mean. Your daughter seems really nice to me." Soap replied and took a seat next to Price.

"Someday you´ll understand what I mean. What´s the reason for your visit by the way?" Price asked and waited impatient for Soap to speak.

"I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I had a hard time." Soap said.

"It´s okay. Never mind." Price answered.

"No Price. You were right, we have to do something. We can´t just sit around and wait till Vitaly starts a new war. We have to watch him." Soap said concerned.

"I know but how can we get information without making Mac notice?" Price asked more to himself as to Soap and drifted into deep thoughts.

"Maybe Roach´s friend from the FBI could help us out. He could give us more details and maybe we should try to contact Mac´s Informant. What was her name? Angela, maybe she helps us." Soap said enthusiastic.

"You think that´s a good idea? I mean Angela is part of his Task Force, she sure tells him that we contacted her." Price answered less enthusiastic.

"At least we should try. First we contact Roach´s friend and if the information he could give us are enough we don´t need to contact her."

"You´re right. Come on, let´s go find Roach before Anna takes control over him." Price chuckled and stood up, followed by Soap and both left the room to look out for Roach.

* * *

In a little Restaurant in the inner city the General waited patient for her to come. He was too early and so he sat there, drinking his coffee and looking out of the window to the busy street. Many of cars were passing by but he didn´t pay much attention to them. It was just a normal day in the huge metropolis. Looking around his eyes got caught from a young couple which was sitting on a bench, apart from the busy street. They were cuddling with each other and he noticed their amorous look. He allowed himself to smile a little as he thought about the woman he was in love with. He never would have imagined that she could love him, but she did and he was thankful for that. He also knew that he couldn´t hide the feelings towards her from her husband anymore. He somehow was his best friend and he deserved to know that he was the man his wife fell in love with. The fact that he hadn´t told him he was the one made him sick but he also knew now wasn´t the right time to tell him about their relationship. Price was distrustful enough to him; he didn´t want to push it any further. Sighing he looked up to the watch which was hanging above the entrance; she was already late. Concerned he checked his mobile phone if she had called him or send him a message, to tell him she would be late, but as he saw she hasn´t contact him, he was getting more nervous. What if something had happened to her? Was it even possible that someone had known he would meet her here? That was ridiculous, he just told her he wanted to talk to her, she didn´t even know the details.

As he heard a car parking outside he turned his gaze back out of the window and relieved he watched her getting out of her car, followed by a man he only knew too well. He watched them both entering the Restaurant, shot up from his chair and waved at them, to signal them he was here. The woman smiled at him, cut the distance between them and gave him a hug and a smile. The man was more reserved and shook the General´s hand before all three sat down on the small table.

"Good to see you two. How´s it going?" MacMillian asked his two visitors.

"Oh, everything´s fine. What about you? Do you enjoy your time with the 141?" The man asked back and watched the waitress come to their table.

"Well it´s harder than I thought it would be." MacMillian answered and turned his attention to the woman, who had kept quiet till now.

"Are you ok Chrissy? You´re unusual quiet."

"Yes Mac. I´m fine, I was just thinking about Julia. Is she alright?" The woman with the long blond hair asked him back.

"I think she´s doing better. Right now she isn´t here. I told her she should take two weeks off to get her mind free." Mac replied smiling.

"That´s good to hear. Angela had told me everything that happened." Chrissy replied with a smile.

"We´re not here to talk about Julia right? Why did you call us? Is it about Vitaly Makarov?" The man turned his attention back to the General after he had told the waitress what he wanted to drink.

"Did Angela tell you about him?" Mac asked and the man nodded.

"Well I called you to ask you if you want to join the Backup Force again."

For a few seconds the man and the woman stared at Mac with a surprised look on their face, before they shot each other a glance and smiled.

"I wondered how long it would take to get back in action." The man said smirking.

"Yes, life was pretty boring without all the others." The woman confirmed.

"So you will join again?" Mac asked happy.

"Of course we will." The man replied and noticed how Mac got relieved.

"That´s good to hear." The General said and got very serious.

"Well then Captain, I have a mission for you."

"Find Vitaly Makarov?" The man, who turned out to be the Captain of the Force asked and Mac nodded.

"He´s in Russia right now but I doubt that he will stay there for long. I bet he will come back."

"So you want us to watch him?"

"For now yes."

"Mind if I ask why you don´t let the 141 do it?"

"I would ask them but right now they have other problems I worry about. That´s why I called Chrissy, you need to ask the others to join again and then head to our base to prepare it for more Soldier´s to life in it." Mac said serious and looked at Chrissy.

"For more? Do you want to take the Task Force with you? I thought they have a base? Can´t they stay here?" Chrissy asked surprised by the General´s request. Mac just shook his head and took a deep breathe.

"The base isn´t save anymore."


	33. Departure

**5 days later…**

Mac sat in his office and thought about the next thing to do. He hadn´t told the 141 yet that he feared the base wasn´t safe anymore. The only information he gave them was to keep a watch over the base and tell him if they saw something suspicious. He also made sure that no one from the outside could visit the base. Of course the soldiers had asked him what this was all about but he just told them it would be a good practice for next missions to come. Whether he liked it or not today he needed to tell them to gather all their belongings and get ready for a move. He would wait tell Anna and Gisela were gone, he didn´t want them to get nervous. Looking at his watch he noticed it was time to leave his office and say goodbye to his partner and her daughter. He hadn´t talked to Price yet and so he knew he couldn´t show Gisela how much he would miss her. Sighing the General stood up from his spot and walked towards his door. As he opened it he jumped in surprise, Gisela stood in front of him and he noticed she jumped a little too.

"What are you doing here?" He asked curious as she stepped into his room and closed the door behind her. Gisela smiled at him and quickly gave him a gentle kiss.

"Just wanted to say goodbye to you." She answered and rested her head against his chest.

"You know that I´ll come outside with you." The General answered.

"I know but we couldn´t say goodbye like we would. John´s there too." Gisela pushed herself away from him and looked him in the eyes. The General sighted.

"You know we have to tell him."

"Yes, but not right now. We should wait till you found Vitaly Makarov." Gisela answered and looked down to the floor.

"Promise me to take care of yourself. I couldn´t stand loosing you."

MacMillian smiled a little after her statement, put one hand under her chin, lifted her head and kissed her one more time.

"Don´t worry, I´ll make sure that we don´t get into too much trouble." He promised her smiling.

"You know it´s hard for me to believe this but I trust you to make the right decisions. Oh and Anna told me you should keep an eye on Gary, she really likes him." Gisela answered and kissed him on the cheek.

"I´ll see what I can do." MacMillian answered her and both left the room to join the others which were waiting outside for them.

* * *

Roach stood outside and watched the others saying goodbye to Anna and Gisela. Insecure and nervous he gazed at Anna, who was laughing at some stupid comment of Meat. He wondered what he should do when she comes to him. Should he kiss her? Should he just shook her hand and smile? Should he tell her that he would miss her? Or should he just say goodbye to her? He didn´t know. He was aware of the fact that everyone here knew that he and Anna had something like a love story going on but he didn´t know if it would fit him to kiss her in front of his teammates, his superiors and her parents. The time she was here both of them always kept their exchange of tenderness for the time they were in his room. He never had kissed her in front of the others, not even if they were alone in a room with Ghost or Soap, and these two were his best friends. Tensed he shifted from one feet to another; Anna and Gisela were on their way to him.

Ghost who was standing next to Gary shot him a questioning look. Why was his friend so nervous? Ghost knitted his eye-brows and nudged Gary on his shoulder, making the Sergeant look at him. Gary recognized his friends stare and nodded his head towards Anna. Ghost followed his nod and immediately knew why his friend was troubled. Ghost smiled, got closer to Gary and whispered in his ear.

"Just kiss her. You will regret if you don´t do it." He told him.

"But…" Gary wanted to reply as Gisela interrupted him.

"Lieutenant! Take care of yourself and don´t get in too much trouble." Gisela told Ghost as they shook hands.

Ghost nodded at her and Gisela stepped up to Gary. She noticed he was looking at her with big eyes and he seemed to sweat a lot. Gisela could feel why he was so nervous.

"Sergeant! You too take care of yourself." Gisela told him and as she shook his hand she brought her head to his ear and whispered something which made Gary smile a little and he scratched his head.

Gisela stepped aside and let her daughter step up to Gary. Both of them were looking at each other somehow embarrassed and didn´t say a single word. It was an awkward silence; the stares of all the others making it more and more awkwardly.

"So, uh, fare well Sergeant." Anna stammered and offered Gary and handshake.

What should he do? Should he just take her hand and wish her good luck? Was this the right way to let her go? He was very unsure and the stares of his teammates didn´t make the situation easier. He stared into Anna´s eyes as he took her hand to shake it and saw how her smile faded away from her face. Shit, he had done it wrong. Hearing how Ghost and Soap cleared their throats, he leered to them and saw both of them shaking their head. Crap, he definitely did it wrong. He turned his gaze back to Anna who had broken the handshake and was about to turn around with a lowered head. Fuck, what should he do? Help seeking he leered to Ghost again who mentioned him with his eyes to do what he had told him. Roach took a deep breathe, Ghost was right, he had to do it now or never. Without thinking about his actions Roach reached out, grabbed her arm and stopped her in her move. He saw her surprised but happy face, put his free hand on her cheek and kissed her.

Ghost allowed himself to smile as Roach pushed Anna closer to him and she flung her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. He was proud of his friend, Roach had managed to say goodbye to her in a way she deserved and wanted it. As the kiss of them got too intensive for Ghost´s taste he turned his gaze away from them and recognized that every men out there did the same. He could also see Price shaking his head; it was definitely too much for the Captain to watch his daughter kiss a man. It seemed like hours till Anna and Roach finally tore apart and smiled at each other.

"I´ll miss you." Anna told Roach as she was ready to leave.

"I´ll miss you too." Roach answered and gave her one short kiss before Anna turned around and she and Gisela got into the car, which was waiting for them, and left the base.

Satisfied Roach looked at his teammates who were grinning at him. He knew that some of them would tease him for kissing her goodbye but he also knew deep inside everyone was proud of him. As the soldiers were about to go back inside the base MacMillian told them he would want them to meet in the conference room. Curious all of them went inside the room and waited for Mac to come in and close the door behind him. All of them watched him walking to the front end of the room and taking a deep breathe.

"I want you to pack all of your belongings. Tomorrow we´re leaving the base." Mac ordered and everyone looked at him with surprised faces.

* * *

"Do you have everything?" Caroline´s mum asked Chris as he put all of his luggage into the car.

"Yes, I think so. Thanks for the good time." Chris answered and gave Caroline´s dad a handshake and her mum a hug.

"No need to thank us for that. You´re always welcome." Caroline´s father told him and watched his daughter and Julia come out of the house.

"Are you ready?" Caroline asked Toad and he nodded.

"Take care of you and come back soon." Caroline´s mother finally said as Chris got into a car. He gave her a smile and a nod and closed his door.

His week off had come to an end and he was happy to go back to work. It wasn´t the fact that he hadn´t enjoyed his time here but his work was also important to him. He couldn´t wait to hear if they found something about this Makarov out and he was curious how his teammates were doing. As Caroline started the engine he waved her mum and dad goodbye and closed his eyes to rest a bit in the car. He heard his girlfriend and Julia talk about something but he didn´t care, both of them had talked about different things the whole time he was here and he was sure it wasn´t anything important.

15 minutes later they had arrived at the airport and were waiting for Chris to board his plane. Julia sat in a chair in the huge airport lobby and watched the people running around to get to their planes. Caroline and Chris were standing in front of the departure screen and cuddled and kissed the whole time. Caroline didn´t want him to leave but she had no choice. She knew that his work was his life and that he would get very pissed if he wouldn´t go back to it. The lovers stood five more minutes in front of the screen as the gate to Toad´s plane got opened. Disappointed and sad Caroline told Julia that Toad would leave now and so Julia stood up from her chair and gave Toad a hug. Toad smiled at her and wished her a good time here and told her he would be happy if she would come back. Julia just smiled and answered him she would think about it. Caroline gave Toad one last kiss before he turned around and walked away from the two women.

Julia and Caroline stood next to each other and waved Chris goodbye as he was about to board the plane. Caroline had laid one arm around Julia´s back and both kept on smiling and waving.

"Great. Now he´s gone. That means I have to go along with you one more week. How did I deserve this?" Caroline whispered to Julia with a grin on her face.

"Oh, I know a million places I would prefer to stay but no I have to stay with you freaking girl." Julia whispered back and kept on waving to Chris, who was still in sight.

"Why did he have to leave? He doesn´t know what he´s doing to me, to leave you here." Caroline replied still whispering.

"You have to talk. I clearly don´t understand why he wants to marry you. You´re one of the most egoistic people I ever met in my life." Julia replied, her hand starting to hurt from all the waving.

"Did you tell him your little secret?" Julia asked, leering to Caroline.

"No, why should I? He doesn´t have to know." Caroline whispered and smiled at Christ, who was still waiting.

"Really not? You know Mac promised them to meet the whole team." Julia whispered back and stopped waving, Chris had finally boarded the plane.

"Who says that I´m going to join again?" Caroline whispered back and Julia laughed at her statement.

"Come on. Your life´s pretty boring without me around." Julia replied silently.

"Oh yes, totally but with you it´s like I´m living in a mad house." Caroline whispered back and smiled.

"That´s the way you want to life, isn´t it? By the way why are we still whispering? Chris´s already in the plane." Julia told her friend and started to walk away.

"Whatever you say. Want to have some coffee?" Caroline asked her with a smile and followed her out of the airport.

"Sure why not? Like the old times." Julia said and grinned.

"I know you would say yes. I think we should take the time and talk." Caroline answered as they reached her car and she opened it.

"About what? How you want to explain Chris that you work in the military and that you watched every step he took? Or how your dad almost blew our cover the first time he saw me?" Julia replied smiling wide.

"No, I think I want to talk about this Ghost guy." Caroline said and smiled as Julia raised one eye-brow.

"Wow, between your welcoming-sex-marathon Chris had time to talk with you about Ghost? Impressive."

"I always told you I have the best boyfriend in the world. So what is going on between you and this guy? Is he your boyfriend?" Caroline asked as she opened her door.

"You would love to know huh? All I´m going to tell you is that he´s a good kisser. Nothing more." Julia answered and opened her door too.

"Really? We´ll see Julia. We´ll see." Caroline said and got into her car.

Julia shook her head and smiled as she got into the car. The next week was going to be a hard piece of work.


	34. Poor Toad

Never before, in his entire live, Toad was that happy to get out of a plane, like he was now. Soon after he boarded the plane and sat down on his seat, he fell asleep and awoke just as they announced they would land in five minutes. Rubbing his eyes he lifted himself to sit straight in his seat and looked around. In the line next to him sat three young girls who started to whisper and giggle as Toad looked at them. He wondered what was gotten into them but he just smiled at them; it wasn't unusual that girls started to get nervous when he looked at them. Still smiling he turned his head to the other side and saw two elderly people sitting in that line, which were also looking at him with a smile. Toad looked at them for a few seconds, before his eyes got caught by two kids, which were sitting in the line behind the elderly. The kids laughed really hard as he looked at them and Toad began to wonder why everyone he looked at was acting so hyper friendly. He shook his head; maybe they never had seen such a good looking guy before? He turned his gaze back to the front and saw the stewardess stepping up to him with a big grin on her face. She asked him if everything was okay and Toad just nodded and smiled at her. The stewardess told him they were about to land and left him again, to talk to her associate. Toad stared at the two women a while and realized the other women started to laugh and looked at him with a goofy face. Toad knitted his eye-brows, the people in here were acting really strange. Pretty insecure Toad looked down on himself, to check if he wore something funny but no, everything was alright. He even checked the zipper of his pants, maybe it was open but no, it was closed. Sighing he waited impatient for the plane to touch the ground.

* * *

Toad was wandering through the airport lobby, to leave this place and head back to base. The General had assured him that he send a driver to pick him up. Toad started to get annoyed from all the people around him. As the travelers in the plane looked at him and smiled he found it weird but didn´t think about it deeply; but now he had the feeling that every person he passed smiled at him weirdly. What was wrong with all them? Hadn´t they seen a well build man before? Walking faster Toad left the airport and looked out for the truck that picked him up. He soon found it parked a little apart from the entrance and stepped up to it and opened the door. He threw his duffle bag on the back seat and climbed into the front passenger seat, seeing Archer looking at him with big eyes and a clearly puzzled look.

"What?" Toad asked in anger as his partner didn´t stop to stare at him.

"Good to see you too. Had a nice flight?" Archer asked as he started the engine headshaking.

"Can´t say that. People around me acted like they had never seen an attractive man." Toad answered and closed his eyes.

"What are you talking about? I wasn´t in the plane with you." Archer replied smiling and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Funny Archer, really funny. Everyone knows that I´m the good looking one in our friendship." Toad just answered and earned a smack on the head from his partner.

"Dream on Mona Lisa." Archer replied and started to chuckle.

Toad let out a groan, why did his partner call him Mona Lisa? Has Archer took the time he wasn´t at base to create a new nick name for him? Not that he would be sad to lose his old nick name the older sniper had created for him, it was definitely more annoying than Mona Lisa, but where got Archer this idea from? He knew why his partner called him Mr. Fire head; the first time they met Toad accidently put his hairs on fire as he tried to light a cigarette and didn´t notice it until he felt that his head was getting hotter and hotter. Back then he had burned most of his hairs and what did Archer? He just laughed so hard that he couldn´t help Toad, who saw his only chance to put the fire out by jumping into the lake they were at. Unfortunately Toad didn´t realize in his panic attack that the lake was frozen and he ended up in the infirmary with a mild concussion and a half bald head. Since that day he always made sure to keep his hair short.

So why did Archer call him Mona Lisa? Toad never was interested in any kind of art and so he clearly couldn´t understand why his partner named him after a famous picture. _Maybe Archer´s just getting old. _Toad thought and kept his eyes closed, listening to the music his partner had turned on. After a ten minute drive both snipers arrived at base and Toad was happy to be back in his comfort zone. Excited he jumped out of the truck, snatched his bag and hurried inside the base. He was on his way to his room as he passed Roach´s room and saw how the young Sergeant packed all of his belongings into various duffle bags.

"Hey Roach! What are you doing?" Toad asked surprised and stepped into his friend´s room. Roach who was bended over his bed and folded his clothing leered up to Toad who was standing next to him and surveyed his friend. Roach stared for a few seconds at him, before he started to snort with laughter. Toad just stood there and shot Roach a rather nerved glance; Roach was laughing too?

"For god´s sake! Why is everyone laughing at me? My look hasn´t changed. What´s wrong with you people?" Toad yelled in anger and Roach´s laughter died down.

"Ohm, it´s just nice to see you man." Gary answered and scratched his head still grinning.

"Yes, I know, the beauty has come back to base." Toad replied self-confident and Roach just rolled his eyes.

"But now tell me, why are you packing all of your stuff? Are you leaving?"

"We´re all leaving. Hasn´t Archer told you this?" Roach asked surprised and Toad just shook his head.

"Oh, you should go to the Captain. He´ll explain you everything." Roach said and continued to fold his clothes.

Toad shrugged his shoulders and left Roach in his room to go to the Captain and ask him what was going on here. Why were they leaving? Had they found something about Makarov out? Were they after him? Did they go on a mission all together? But why would Roach pack all of his belongings? If they had a mission going on he would only take the important things with him. Maybe it was a lie as Natasha spoke about Makarov and the 141 could take a break from the work. Thinking about this Toad shook his head; the General had called him and told him he could stay longer with his girlfriend. Contemplating Toad reached the Captain´s room and knocked on the door. He heard MacTavish yell from the inside he could come in and so Toad opened the door and stepped into his superior's room.

* * *

As he entered the room he saw Soap and Ghost sitting on the floor, studying some papers, not paying much attention to Toad. Chris cleared his throat and his two superiors looked up at him. He was about to ask them what was going on here as both started to laugh at him. Toad stood in front of the door paralyzed and wondered what the hell was going on. They were laughing too? He closed his eyes in anger and clenched his fist. Has everyone around him become insane? Was he the only normal person in here? Still hearing their laughs Toad knitted his eye-brows and tried to control his anger. It was hard for him to not scream them into the faces to shut the hell up and tell him what´s so funny about him. Toad breathed heavily and buried his finger nails into his flesh; if they wouldn´t stop immediately he would implode with anger. Ghost and Soap must have noticed that the sniper tried his best to hold his anger back and stopped laughing; apparently Toad didn´t know why they were laughing. The room went silent and Ghost and Soap tried their best to give Toad a serious look.

"Why are we leaving the base?" Toad asked and slowly opened his eyes to look at his Captain.

"Mac told us to leave. We´re going to his Secret Base and finally got to meet his whole team." Soap answered giggling.

"Why´s that?" Toad asked still angry about his superiors.

"He said the base isn´t safe anymore. He fears that Natasha´s going to tell Makarov about the local conditions and that he´s going to try to infiltrate the base and kill us. That´s why we´re leaving tomorrow morning." Soap answered and stood up from the floor.

"And where´s this base?" Toad kept on asking.

"He hasn´t told us. He says it´s not necessary for us to know." Ghost joined the conversation and stood up from the floor too.

"Hm, so I don´t have to unpack my things?" Toad asked and looked at Ghost.

"No. By the way Toad, do you know if Julia´s coming to the base tomorrow too?" Ghost asked and Toad could see that he couldn´t await a good answer from him.

"I´m sorry. I don´t know. As I said goodbye to her earlier she said she´ll think about joining again but she wasn´t sure." Toad answered and looked down to the floor. He could understand if Ghost would be disappointed right now but as he heard him chuckle he looked up to him surprised.

"You´re not disappointed?" Toad asked confused.

"No, why should I? She has all the rights to leave the military and live a normal life." Ghost just said and stretched his back.

"I think I should go now and start to pack my things." Ghost said and headed for the door.

"What about you Picasso? You´re going to pack your other stuff too?" Ghost asked Toad as he opened the door.

Toad just looked at him puzzled. First Mona Lisa, now Picasso? What was going on here? He wanted to ask Ghost what he meant as Soap laid a hand on his shoulder and asked him if he had looked into a mirror since he got out of the plane. Somehow surprised of the Captain´s question Toad shook his head and MacTavish told him, he would understand their reactions if he had seen himself in a mirror.

* * *

As Toad was on his way to his room, he thought about the Captain´s words. He should look in a mirror? He had seen himself in the mirror as he left Caroline´s house and since then he only was at the airport and at the plane. Maybe he looked pale and sick; maybe his eyes were red after he took a nap. Toad tried to remember what he did before he fell asleep; maybe he had eaten something and he had some food between his teeth. Quickly Toad had arrived at his room, put his bag down and followed the Captain´s advice. He went to his bathroom and took a look in the mirror; getting shocked of what he saw. He stood in front of his mirror image with his mouth and eyes wide open and just stared at it. He couldn´t believe that he hadn´t noticed this before. Why hadn´t he woke up? Who had done this to him? He tried to remember the people which were with him in the plane. He remembered the three young girls, the elderly couple and…the kids!

Cursing Toad wondered how they managed to do this to him. Usually kids were loud, anxious and clumsy. Usually kids were innocent and painted pictures of horses or butterflies.

Usually kids' wouldn´t cover the face of a grown man with little, pink and green manly private parts….


	35. Welcome to the new Base

„Angela! Where are you? Angy! "Chrissy yelled as she was looking for her teammate.

Angela had promised to check their infirmary, if they had all the supplies they would need to give the soldiers a good back up. Chrissy, who was the one in charge to make sure everything on base was checked got very impatient on her friend, she promised Mac to prepare the base till he and the 141 arrived. She had managed to create enough space in the living quarters so that every soldier had a place to sleep and could get some privacy. She had called everyone from the old team, asked them if they would join again and organized the transport for them. She also purchased groceries and coordinated the roster for the kitchen staff and she created the training schedule for the soldiers. The only thing that she did not check by herself was the infirmary; her main activity area. She trusted Angela that she would check it till Mac arrived but right now she couldn´t find her friend.

Going outside the base Chrissy met Michael, the Captain, and asked him if he had seen Angela and he gave her the information that he saw Angela walking to the training course. Wondering what her friend wanted there, Chrissy thanked the Captain and made her way to the course. As she got there she saw Angy standing in front of the climbing tower.

"What are you doing here?" Chrissy asked and stood next to Angela.

"I just wanted to check if the tower´s got fixed. You know Derek damaged some of the lower handles as he tried to climb it up but as I can see someone had fixed them." Angela answered and turned around to go back inside the base.

"Yes, I made sure it got fixed before someone gets hurt by climbing up. Have you checked the infirmary already?" Chrissy asked and followed her friend back inside.

"Yes, I have. We´re running out of Adrenalin ampules but I called the doc. He´s taking some with him." Angela answered and both women entered the base again.

"Well, then it´s all done. All we can do now is to wait till everyone arrives." Chrissy said and placed herself in a chair in the rec room. Angela did the same and for a few minutes both sat there in silence, unsure what they should do next.

"Has Julia decided to come back?" Angela finally asked and Chrissy shook her head.

"No, I called her and Caro yesterday but she said she needs at least one more night to think about it. Caro´s coming back definitely even if that means Chris finds out that she isn´t working in the hospital she always told him. She said if he wouldn´t know it now, she never gonna tell him, that she watched him on every single mission in the last three years." Chrissy said and got up from her seat again to get herself something to drink.

"So the others are all joining again?" Angela kept on asking and heard Chrissy say yes.

"That´s good to hear. I started to miss them all."

"Yes, me too. I never thought I would miss them but somehow we´re like a family don't you think? A very crazy and weird one but the best you could ever imagine." Chrissy came back and sat down again, looking at Angela, who smiled at her and nodded.

The two blonde women sat in the rec room for the next hours and talked about the old times and that they were really excited to meet the 141. They knew some of them; both had saved some of the men, but they were curious how their personalities were. For example Angela and Chrissy were part of the team who saved Ghost and Roach from burning alive. Angela was the one who gave Ghost the kiss of life and she was more than excited to meet him. Sure she had talked to him on the phone as they were looking for Andrew´s hideout but she hadn´t tell him that she saved his life; she thought it wasn´t the right time to let him know. She wondered how he would react if she tells him that she is responsible for his survival; would he be mad at her? Would he yell at her and tell her he didn´t want to survive? Julia had told her that Ghost was very depressive as he awoke from his coma and kept on telling her for weeks that he wished to die in the flames.

Headshaking she closed her eyes and tried to relax a bit; maybe he wasn´t mad at her anymore. To Angela he seemed really nice; as far as she could tell from her calls. She had talked to him just six days ago, as he called her and wanted to have information from her about Vitaly Makarov. She knew she broke Mac´s rule to not share any information she had about this man with the 141 but she told Ghost everything she knew; she thought she owed him so, owed him for not telling him she saved his life. She didn´t know how she should explain to him that she was afraid to tell him but what should she do? All she could do now was to wait till he arrives and pray that she would get along with him.

* * *

"Are you all ready to go?" Mac asked as every member of the 141 stood outside of the base, waiting for their transport. He heard a few short agreements, earned a few nods and some thumbs up. All of them were ready to leave this place and head to the secret base. Looking down on his watch Mac recognized their transport would be here every second. He turned his gaze up to the sky and looked out for the pave low, which was coming to get them. Soon his attention got caught from the noise of rotor blades, with a little smile he saw the aircraft showing up in the sky. He watched it come closer and closer, till it finally started to land on the compound they were waiting.

He turned his attention back to the soldiers and nodded at them as a sign to board in and leave the base behind. Wistful all of the men grabbed their bags and slowly made their way into the aircraft, sitting down till the pave low was filled with the whole 141. Mac boarded at last and closed the door behind him. He looked around and could see sad expressions on the faces of his companions. He closed his eyes and heard Price ask who was flying the aircraft. Mac just smiled and told him without opening his eyes, he should go to the pilot and see who it was. Puzzled Price got up from his seat and walked up to the pilot. As he got closer to the man he already had a feeling who was flying but as he heard the man´s heavy accented and familiar voice he smiled a little.

"Good to see you again. I started to wonder what happened to you." Price said and took a seat next to the pilot, which smiled at him.

"So you´re part of Mac´s Force too?" Price kept on asking and returned the smile.

"Da, before he got you out of the police department in Abu Dhabi, he asked me to join." Nikolai answered and concentrated on the flight. Price just nodded silently and looked out of the cockpit, he still wondered where their trip was going to.

It didn´t take long till every soldier on the pave low started to come up with the wildest theories, where the base could be. Some said it was in a mountain region, far away from any civilization, some assumed it was on a little island with nothing else than oceans around it and some assumed it was right in the middle of a big city, too good hidden, to get known as a military base. Mac just sat there and smiled as he listened to the soldiers, none of them was completely wrong. You could say the base was a mix of all their theories. The base was on a small island, camouflaged as a cannery and the island was surrounded by hills and mountains. As Mac thought about the base now, he wondered if the life there would be too boring for his soldiers. The base was really separated from any civilization; but who knew, maybe they could go back to their base faster as they thought.

* * *

The flight soon was over and Nikolai announced they would land now and the tenseness in the pave low rose. Everyone was chatting around, excited to meet Mac´s team. The aircraft jerked a bit and touched the ground. Slowly Mac got up from his seat and looked out of the window, seeing his Captain standing in front of the Pave Low, ready to welcome them. Breathing heavily Mac pushed the door open and got out of the aircraft, followed from the whole 141. Mac smiled and walked up to his Captain, standing next to him he began to speak.

"As you all can see we´re at our small base. I hope you can get along with the fact that this isn´t the 141 base and that you enjoy your time here with my other team. The man next to me is the Captain, Michael Winters, he´ll show you the base and will answer all of your questions. When he´s done we´ll all meet in the rec room to plan our next steps. Captain, they´re yours." Mac said, turned around and headed inside the base, leaving his Captain alone with the new arrivals.

Sighing the young man gave the soldiers a smile and began to explain the setting of the base. He told them that they had to share their bedrooms, that they had made a training schedule for them, what they could do in their free time and the times for the meals. He asked if the soldiers had any more questions and as no one had one, he let them inside the base and showed them where they could sleep. As everyone had a room and he was sure they would find the way to the rec room by themselves he told them they had 30 minutes to relax and meet with the others at the rec room.

"Do you think we have to stay here for long?" Roach asked Worm, with whom he shared a room, as they unpacked some of their stuff.

"I don´t know. At least we have to stay till we found out what Vitaly Makarov indents to do. Why do you ask? Don´t you like it here?" Worm answered and sat down on his bed.

"I don´t know. It seems like living here is pretty boring. We´re on an island with no other buildings around us and we have to share rooms. No offense Worm, you know I like you but my own room would be better." Roach answered and sat down on his bed too.

"I know what you mean but we can´t change it now. We have to life with it and make the best of it but don´t worry. I won´t interrupt you if you want to be alone with your little girlfriend." Worm answered and winked at Gary.

"What do you mean? Anna´s not coming here." Roach answered confused.

"Only she´s not here doesn´t means you two can´t have a little privacy. You know you can get some love even if she´s not here. Both of you have cell phone´s don't you?" Worm asked and smirked as Roach face heated up.

"You´re an idiot Worm. I would never do that." Roach yelled embarrassed. Worm really had a colorful phantasy.

"We´ll talk about it next week." Worm said still smirking.

"Come one. We should go to the rec room." He added and stood up from his bed, opening the door.

Headshaking Roach followed him out of the room and on their way to the rec room they met all of the other members of their team. All together they entered the rec room, where Mac and his team were already waiting for them. Mac waited till everyone had took a seat and started to introduce the members of his team, which were there. Michael, the Captain, they met before, was a young man with short dark brown hairs and blue eyes. His face was unshaved and he had a scar on the left side of his upper lip. He was thin but had very muscular arms and he was as tall as MacTavish. Next to the Captain stood a man, who was slightly shorter than him, with blonde hairs and brown eyes, he looked like he was in his early twenties. Mac introduced the man as Sergeant Jason Curtis.

The next one who Mac introduced was Chrissy. She was about 5"3 tall, had long blond hairs, which she wore as a ponytail, blue eyes and was tanned. The woman next to Chrissy was Angela. She looked a lot like Chrissy, was as tall as her and had long blond hair. Angela had brown eyes and had a beauty spot near the right side of her upper lip. She was also tanned, but not as much as Chrissy was. As Mac had introduced them he told the 141 that his Force had more members but that they were about to come here later or that they were watching Vitaly Makarov. Ghost, who had thought that Julia wouldn´t come back got a little hope back as Mac told them about the other members. Maybe she would come here later.

"Are all members of your old team coming back?" Roach broke the silence they were in.

"Yes, the only one who wasn´t sure is Julia. We called her yesterday but she said she needed to think about it." Chrissy answered and Roach recognized that Ghost had turned his gaze down to the floor. To comfort his friend Roach laid a hand on his shoulder and as Ghost leered up to him Roach gave him a smile and a nod. Ghost let out a deep breath and returned the smile, turning his gaze back up.

"So all we can do now is wait." Angela said and looked at every man in the room. Her gaze got caught a few seconds by Ghost, till she quickly looked away from him as he stared back at her. Somehow embarrassed Angela felt how she blushed and quickly turned her gaze to Toad, who was talking with Archer and hadn´t paid much attention as Mac introduced his force. With a smile Angela walked up to him and placed herself in front of him, waiting for him to recognize her.

* * *

Archer who recognized first that the women was staring at him and Toad shut up immediately and looked at her questionings. He wondered why she was standing in front of them and smiled at Toad. She sure didn´t know that Toad had a girlfriend but this was Archer´s chance. To him Angela was an unbelievable attractive young girl and he would be stupid if he wouldn´t try to flirt with her. He thought about the right words to break the ice between them as suddenly Toad had recognized the woman in front of him and stared at her with a surprised look. Angela returned his look and smiled even wider as she recognized Toad didn´t know what to do, she needed to support him.

"Nice to see you again Chris." Angela said and Archer looked at his partner in disbelief as Toad laughed nervous and hugged Angela lightly.

"Nice to see you too Ang. What are you doing here?" Chris asked and scratched his head.

"I´m working for Mac. What did you think?" She answered amused.

"I don´t know. It´s just weird to see you here." Chris answered and laughed nervous.

Unsure what was going on here Archer looked from Angela to Chris, back to Angela and again to Chris.

"You know her?" He asked Toad somehow shocked. Where did Toad always meet such beautiful girls?

"Yes, Angela and Caro were in the same education class." Toad answered and looked at his partner.

"So she´s a friend of your girlfriend?" Now it was Meat who asked very interested.

"Yes, they are something like best friends, right?" Toad asked Angela and she nodded.

"Whoa and the best friend of your girlfriend, who is also a nurse works for MacMillian? That´s great." Meat said and smiled at Angela before an idea crossed his mind.

"Wouldn't it be strange if your girlfriend´s working for him too?" Meat now smiled at Toad who seemed to lose all of his expressions in his face.

"But wait. Your girlfriend is not made to work in the military. Least of all in a backup team." Meat continued and laughed.

"Why not?" Toad asked him a little angry.

"Come on Toad. I met your girlfriend twice. She´s egoistic, rude and extremely huffy. If she would see a wounded soldier and isn´t in the right mood, she would let him die instead of helping him out. I wouldn´t trust your girlfriend. She´s the one who would put a knife in my back, if I´m already dying." Meat said and began to laugh, not noticing how Toad bristled with anger.

"Do I want to know what you told them about my daughter Chris?" They heard a voice coming from the door and everyone turned around.

"What…." Toad stammered and looked at the man in horror, who was standing in the doorframe and shot him a killing glance.

"Who´s that?" Meat asked and shivered as the man turned his gaze towards him.

"I´m Caroline´s dad." The man answered and stepped inside the room, followed by an elderly woman and Toad´s girlfriend.

"You´re here?" Toad asked in disbelief as his girlfriend approached him and kissed him gently on the lips.

"What are you doing here?" Toad asked her still shocked but Caroline just smiled at him and rolled her eyes as Toad didn´t calm down his attitude.

"She´s working here." Toad heard a familiar female voice and turned his attention back to the door.

Ghost looked at her and smiled; so she decided to come back.


	36. Midnight Adventures

The first hours in the new base passed very quickly for the members of Task Force 141. After Caroline, her parents and Julia had arrived and Mac had told them what they knew about Vitaly Makarov, the soldiers had time to explore the base, get some rest or talk to the members of Mac´s SA2 team. Most of them took the opportunity to explore the base, but some decided to talk to the other team. Especially Toad was curious why Caroline´s parents were here. He always thought her dad was a driving instructor and her mum was working in a canteen, back at their home town. He was shocked as his soon father-in-law told him he served in the military since he was 18 and was the Lieutenant of the team. Less surprisingly for him was that Caroline´s mum worked in the kitchen there, she didn´t tell him a completely lie as she told him she was working in a canteen. The rest of the day Toad spend his time to handle with the fact that his girlfriend always kept an eye on him on every mission.

By now it was midnight and Toad laid in his bed and tried to sleep, but the thoughts about the new situation kept him awake. He stared to the ceiling and let out a groan; why didn´t they tell him the truth? Was it really too dangerous for them to reveal their secret to him? Sure he would have acted different on some missions, he would have been more careful, but he would never neglect his duty on the battlefield. He would have been the same good sniper with more goad to protect his girlfriend from dangerous saving-missions. If he had known she watched every step of him, they could have spent more time with each other. Maybe they would be married today. Not getting his mind free he turned around and looked to his partner, sleeping in the bed on the other side of the room. Toad saw Archer was laying on his back but couldn´t see if his eyes were closed. Was he asleep by now? Sure he was, since he knew him, Archer never had problems to sleep, no matter where they were. He would even oversleep an enemy attack. Letting out another groan he turned on his back again and stared at the ceiling once more. The whole situation was tricky and right now he wasn´t even sure if his relationship with Caro was making sense anymore. Afraid of his own thoughts Toad closed his eyes and tried to relax. Just because his girlfriend didn´t tell him she works in the military doesn´t mean that their love was a waste of time.

"I´m sure she just joined this Force ´cause she loves you with all of her heard." Surprised Toad turned around and looked at Archer again, who now was laying in his bed with eyes open.

"I didn´t know you are a mentalist." Toad answered wondering why his partner knew what he was thinking.

Archer rolled his eyes and lifted his upper body. Sometimes Toad was a slow one.

"Yes, I have supernatural powers and my only sorrows are to read the mind of my stupid partner." Archer answered annoyed and shook his head.

"Hey, I´m not stupid." Toad defended himself and turned his gaze down to the floor.

"You just gave me an answer about my last thought and that´s pretty creepy."

"It wasn´t your last thought. You said out loud that you don´t think your love´s a waste of time, in matter of fact Caroline works for Mac." Archer replied and gave Toad a quick smile as his partner looked up to him again.

"So you really think she loves me with all of her heart? I never thought you would believe in love. I actually never thought you´d have any feelings. How come I never saw you with a girl?" Toad said and smirked.

"What did you think? Of course I believe in love. It´s the strongest feeling you could have." Archer answered, laid back and closed his eyes again.

"I just haven´t found the girl I want to spend the rest of my life with, that´s all and I´m not one for one-night-stands."

Toad just nodded after the statement of his friend. He never before had a conversation like this with Archer. Now that Toad thought about it, he didn´t even know much about Archer´s life outside of the military. He wondered if he should ask him more personally stuff if they were alone; but he somehow had a feeling that Archer wouldn´t open up to him more, than he did right now. With a little sigh Toad closed his eyes and finally he could get some sleep.

* * *

"Hey Julia! Are you still awake?" Angela asked her roommate as she laid in her bed. As an answer Julia just mumbled a yes and turned around to look at Angela. In the darkness Julia noticed how Angela turned around too and looked at her.

"I wanted to ask you something." Angela continued and waited for Julia to response.

"What is it Ang?" Julia asked and heard her friend taking a deep breathe.

"Did Ghost ever ask you who was responsible for his rescue?" Angela asked quiet and closed her eyes again.

"No, we never talked about it. Why do you ask?" Julia replied and got up from her bed to sit on her bedside. Somehow amused she waited for Angela to speak again. She knew what stressed her friend but to Julia it was no big deal that she hasn´t told Ghost that she was the one who saved him. Julia was sure that Ghost wouldn´t blame her anymore for keeping him alive.

"I just don´t know if I should tell him that I was the one who saved him. It´s weird, I know, but I don´t want him to avoid or hate me. I´m afraid it would affect our work." Angela finally said and watched Julia put on her shoes and get up from her bed.

"I think you should tell him. I know it´s not easy, he wasn´t too happy to be still alive. But I think he´s over it and now he´s more than happy that he got the chance to life on." Julia said yawning, stepped up to the door and switched the light on. Surprised Angela looked at her; why was she doing this? It was time to sleep, tomorrow would be a long day.

As Angela kept on staring at Julia and didn´t move, Julia rolled her eyes and stepped to her friend's bed. Julia looked at her with a smile and told Angela she should come with her. Still confused Angela slowly got out of her bed, put her shoes on and followed Julia out of their bedroom. The corridor outside was dim lighted and from the rooms they passed Angela could hear that many of the soldiers were asleep and were snorting heavily. Angela knitted her eye-brows as she followed her friend to the back entrance of the base; why were they leaving the base? Angela watched Julia look out of the small window, which was in the door, and noticed how her friend began to smile wide.

Angela wanted to ask her what she was doing as Julia silently opened the door and signed her to follow her outside. Curious Angela looked at her a sec, before she followed her outside, getting greeted from a cold steam. Shivering Angela closed the door again and as she turned around she recognized Julia and her weren´t the only ones which were outside. A few meters away from her she saw Ghost and Soap, talking and smoking. Angela got even more confused as Julia stepped up to the two men, talked with them shortly and Ghost turned around to look at her with a small smile on his face. Embarrassed Angela turned her gaze to the floor; Ghost wasn´t wearing his mask and Angela somehow found it uncomfortable to look him in the eyes. It wasn´t that she thought he looked strange, he even was a very good looking man, but Angela felt ashamed that he didn´t know the truth.

Her eyes still on the snow covered ground Angela heard the Captain and Julia say that they were going back inside and Ghost answer that he would stay on the outside some more. Unsure what was going on Angela turned her gaze from the ground to Julia, who was about to walk pass her to head back into the building. As Julia was next to Angela she laid a hand on her shoulder and whispered in her ear that she should take the chance to talk to Ghost now. Angela wanted to protest and tell her it wasn´t the right time and place to talk to him but Julia just kept on walking and didn´t pay any more attention to her. Insecure Angela stood there paralyzed and watched Julia and Soap disappear behind the door again. What should she do now? Would it be rude if she would just go back into the base too and leave Ghost out here alone? Sure it was, why was she even thinking about this? Angela shook her head slightly and took a deep breathe. Ghost stayed here extra for her; she needed to talk to him and tell him everything. Determined she turned around and stepped up to Ghost, who was still smiling at her. _Damn, his look doesn´t make it easier. Why can´t he just look away into the sky?_ Angela thought as she stood next to Ghost and looked him in the eyes.

"Julia told me you wanted to talk to me." Ghost said calmly and watched Angela playing nervous with her hairs.

"Yes, but I don´t know if it´s the right time to talk. If you want to go back and sleep we can talk tomorrow." Angela answered and tried to sound confidence. Ghost just shook his head and closed his eyes.

"Nah, it´s fine. I can´t sleep anyways, my roommate´s annoying as hell." He answered and Angela had to chuckle.

"I know what you mean." She answered and relaxed as Ghost started to chuckle too.

"Really? I never thought Julia´s hard to handle."

"You´ll understand what I mean if you know her for years." Angela answered with a smile and watched how Ghost pulled out a bag of cigarettes, offering her one. Thankfully Angela took it and waited till Ghost has lightened his own cigarette as well as hers.

"So Angela. What´s the big think you want to talk about?" Ghost asked her and took a drag from his cigarette. Getting nervous again Angela avoided to look at him and walked a few steps away from him. Angela looked up into the sky and closed her eyes.

"I was the one who saved you." She said shortly, opened her eyes again and kept on staring into the night sky. In silence she waited for him to response but he didn´t say anything to her. Thinking that Ghost was mad at her she turned around slowly and looked at him uncertain; waiting for him to yell at her, how stupid she was. She looked at his face and saw him still smiling. Wasn´t he mad at her? Maybe he hasn´t heard what she said. Maybe she should repeat it. She was about to open her mouth again and say the words again as Ghost started to move and within a short moment Angela found herself in a hug.

"Thanks." Ghost whispered to her, gave her a smile, put his cigarette out and quickly headed back into the base. Surprised by his reaction Angela began to smile; this was easier than she thought.

* * *

"We should go back to sleep, if Mac finds out what we´re doing he´s going to kill us." Caroline sounded concerned, what she and Chrissy were doing could cause them a lot of trouble.

"Stop complaining. You know Mac wouldn´t do anything to us. We´re too important for him." Chrissy answered, concentrated on her work.

"Just hurry up. What if someone´s coming?" Caroline replied and leered out of the door.

"I´m sure no one´s coming. They are asleep now." Chrissy rolled her eyes, Caro was too scary.

"Really? Have you almost forgotten that their Captain and Lieutenant passed by five minutes ago? What have you done if they had seen us?" Caroline kept on complaining and turned her attention to her roommate, who was still not finished with her work. Chrissy let out a groan and shook her head, it would have been better if Caroline wouldn´t have come with her. Maybe she should have asked Angela if she would help her out but then Julia would have noticed what they were up to and she didn´t want to harass her. She had enough trouble the last few weeks; she didn´t need one more thing to be concerned about.

"Why does this take so long? If you can´t get into it you should stop trying, who knows, maybe they have already tracked us." Caroline kept on trying to convince her friend to stop what she was doing, it was too dangerous for the whole base.

"Would you please just shut up? I know what I´m doing. I just need to try this and….et voilà, here we go!" Chrissy announced happily as her job was done.

"Hurry up and save the information on your USB. I hear footsteps." Caroline answered her and looked out of the door again.

"Yeah, right." Chrissy answered sarcastically, waited for the upload to get finished and turned the laptop off.

Sneaking up to Caroline she tapped her on the shoulder and showed her the USB with a proud smile. Caroline just nodded and as she heard the footsteps disappear in the distance she stuck her head out of the door, looked around and as she saw no one outside she grabbed Chrissy by her arm and both women sneaked back to their bedroom. Relieved they laid down on her beds and Caroline could hear Chrissy chuckle. Annoyed she looked at her friend and rolled her eyes; she hoped Mac wouldn´t notice that they were in his office and used his laptop to hack and steel top secret information from the Russian government.

* * *

"Oh my god, Scarecrow! Would you please wake up?" Ozone stood desperate on his friend's bedside and tried to wake him up. As an answer he just earned a groan from his older teammate, which made Ozone throw his hands in the air in anger. To him it was an unbelievable phenomenon how a man could snore that loud and not wake up from it by himself.

"If you keep on like this the base soon has no trees around it. You should have become a woodchopper." Ozone spoke and watched his friend turn to the other side, not waking up.

Rolling his eyes Ozone wondered what he could do to wake Scarecrow up. He looked around in the room till his eyes got caught from a small object standing on the little table, which was on the backside of the room. Ozone smirked, walked up to the table and grabbed the object with one hand. Reading the package band he stepped up to his friend's bed again, opened the object and let the content flow on his friends head.

"What the…" Scarecrow let out a high pitched scream and jumped out of his bed. Confused he looked to the side and saw Ozone stand there with a bottle in his hand, bursting out in heartbreaking laughter. Angry Scarecrow bristled, cut the distance between him and his friend, stole the bottle out of Ozone´s hand and poured the remaining content over the head of the laughing soldier.

"Hey, Crow! That´s not fair." Ozone yelled as he felt the water running down his hair to his face.

"You started this, idiot! I just did what you did." Scarecrow said annoyed and checked if his bed got wet by the attack.

"Just because you didn´t want to wake up." Ozone complained and shook his head, to dry his hairs.

With and eye-brow arched Scarecrow watched the other man from his spot and let out a sigh. Sometimes he wondered why he saw Ozone as his best friend. Maybe it was just because he was married to Ozone´s cousin and he promised her to watch over him and make sure he didn´t get into too much trouble. Scarecrow shook his head and laid down on his bed again, pulling the blanket over his shoulders and closed his eyes again.

"Promise me to wait till I´m asleep." He heard his friend mumble as he laid down in his bed again. Scarecrow opened one eye and watched how Ozone turned his back towards him, with a deep breathe he closed his eye again and turned on his back. He needed to sleep before him; when Ozone was asleep he snorted like he wanted to cut every tree around him.

* * *

"You think you´ll like it here?" Julia asked Soap as both entered the rec room and sat down on one of the many couches that were in the room. They had decided to stay in here till Angela and Ghost were done with talking.

"I don´t know. Your base the totally opposite to the 141 base. I´m not sure if the space is enough for so much people to life together for several months. But I´ll give it a try, there´s nothing else we could do. I just wonder what to do in our free time; there´s nothing around we could go to and escape the solitude on the base." Soap explained her and tried to find a comfortable position on the old worn out couch.

"I know what you mean but sometimes Mac gives us the permission to leave the island and go to the nearest land based city. Besides if we´re after Vitaly Makarov all of us are going to leave the base and find a hideout in Russia. Nikolai has some good contacts there and he´ll make sure that they´re going to help us." Julia said and Soap let out a sigh. She was right, again. It was just a workaround that they were here. As soon as their suspicion on Makarov´s violent intention would be confirmed, they would immediately go after him.

"You´re right, I hope we soon get a cast iron proof on what he is doing on Russia. Then we can take him down before he is able to fulfill his plan." Soap answered and turned his gaze down to his watch; Ghost and Angela were talking for 20 minutes now.

"You think they´re still talking." He asked Julia and looked up to her, only to see how she shrugged her shoulders.

"I don´t know. I´m not even sure if Angela told him that she was the one who rescued him. Why do you ask? If you want to go back to your room, feel free to." Julia answered and Soap shook his head as an answer.

"I can´t sleep anyways; I have too much on my mind." Soap stated.

"Want to tell me what you´re thinking about?" Julia asked him and smiled a little.

"Mostly about the members of your team. I never thought all of you were so young."

"We´re not much younger than your men." Julia said and chuckled lightly.

"You think so? How old is your Captain?" Soap asked her curious.

"Michael? I think he´s 26 now." Julia shortly answered and thought about the year her Captain was born.

"See! He´s much younger then I´m." Soap said and crossed his arms to point his statement more up.

"Really? Well, tell me, how old are you?" Julia asked amused, she didn´t think Soap was that much older than Michael.

"I´m going to be 31 next week." Soap said and Julia began to laugh. Soap raised an eye-brow and wondered why she was laughing now.

"That´s not funny." He said and looked at her serious.

"Not? You´re only five years older than him." Julia answered as her laughter turned down.

"That´s a big difference. Maybe you don´t think I´m old, but I feel like I´m, but as I was in your age, I would have react the same way."

"As you were in my age? What do you think how old I´m?" Julia asked him and smiled as Soap started to examine her. He thought for a few seconds and closed his eyes as he answered.

"You´re not older than 23." Soap kept his eyes closed and heard Julia sigh deeply. Curious he opened his eyes and looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. Therefore Julia just shook her head amused and smiled weakly.

"Nice try, but you´re totally wrong." She said and stretched her back, maybe it was time for her to go back to sleep.

"So tell me how wrong I was." Soap said and watched her get up from her spot.

"I´m going to be 29 in a few months." Julia answered and smiled as he looked very surprised at her.

"You´re kidding me!" Soap said and shoot up from his spot, to bring himself on her eye level.

"Why should I do that?" Julia asked him still amused.

"I don´t know. You´re really 29? I never was that wrong." Soap explained and gave her a weak smile.

"And how old are your friends?" He kept on asking as them both were about to leave the rec room again, it was definitely time for them to go to bed.

"Angela and Caroline are 24 and Chrissy is 25." Julia told him as they were walking through the base´s corridors.

"That´s what I thought but to be honest, I thought you were the youngest of them."

"Oh, don´t let them hear that." Julia warned him and stopped walking in front of her room.

"They always tell me how old I´m and that their happy that their not as old as I´m."

"Good to know." Soap answered as Julia unlocked her door and shoot him one last glance.

"We see us in the morning?" She asked him as she stood in her opened door.

"Yes, at breakfast." Soap replied and smiled.

"Well then. Good night John." Julia returned his smile and closed the door behind her.

"Good night Julia." Soap slightly shook his head and kept on walking. Maybe he could get some sleep now.


	37. Back to Business

„Julia! " Chrissy whispered to her friend as they were having breakfast. Curious the named one looked up from the roll she had on her plate, to meet with a smiling face just a few inches away from her. Julia raised an eye-brow; she knew that look on her face. Chrissy always looked like that if she wanted to ask something really personal or wanted Julia to do her a favor. Julia squinted her eyes and waited for Chrissy to spit out what she wanted from her. It couldn´t be anything serious.

Chrissy, who noticed Julia´s look started to giggle like she was some sort of a crazy teenager, who was allowed to go out on her first date. Carefully Chrissy got closer to Julia and eyed her. She knew if she wouldn´t tell her what she wanted, Julia soon would get really pissed and would yell at her, what the hell she was up to. Chrissy would have loved to see her friend implode but a quick look around told her, she wouldn´t push it that far. The whole mess hall was filled with soldiers and Chrissy didn´t want to start a scene. Besides Chrissy was sure Julia wouldn´t tell her the truth if everyone around them would knew what they were talking about. Chrissy stopped her mad giggles but kept a smile on her face as she bended over to Julia´s ear.

"I´ve heard there´s something going on between you and the Lieutenant. Is this true?" Chrissy whispered in her ear and could feel how Julia tensed up at the word Lieutenant.

Looking around if someone had noticed what Chrissy had asked her, Julia shook her head and let out a sigh. She was sure that Caroline had given her that idea and now Chrissy wanted to have an answer from her too. To Julia the curiosity of her friends was annoying her more than she had ever imagined. She knew that especially Chrissy and Caro were curious as hell and wanted to know every secret from a person, but Julia really didn´t want to talk with them about her relationship to Ghost. She knew that they wouldn´t let him or her life in peace anymore, if they would find out what was going on between them. It didn´t matter if they were a couple or not; both of them would either try to convince them to have a relationship or would find some things that would bother them if they had one. Julia thought about ignoring her friend and continue eating, but she knew that Chrissy wouldn´t shut up if Julia didn´t tell her at least something. However, Julia wasn´t sure how she could tell Chrissy what was going on between them, without revealing too much. Julia knew the only thing she could do to finish her meal in peace was to answer her question by turning her answer into a question.

"What did Caroline tell you about it?" Julia asked and took a bite form her roll.

"Not much. She just said you told her that he´s a good kisser." Chrissy answered and waited for Julia to give her more information.

"That´s right." Julia said and took one last sip from her coffee.

"And?" Chrissy started to get edgy, she was about to reveal the secret.

"There´s nothing more I can tell you by now." Julia shortly said and shoot up from her spot and walked away, leaving Chrissy on the table with a puzzled look. That wasn´t the answer she wanted to hear. She wasn´t wiser than before. Disappointed she turned back to her breakfast and didn´t notice how Julia left the mess hall, followed by a man.

* * *

He closed the door after she had stepped into his room. Carefully he locked the thin wooden door; they didn´t need the Captain to step in and disturb them. Slowly he followed her to sit opposite of her on his bed, removed his mask and laid it on the mattress next to him. He used both of his hands to restrain the mess, he called his hair, only to come to the conclusion that it didn´t work and after he heard her chuckle, he lowered his hands in defeat and looked at her huffy.

"You really need a haircut." Julia told him and patted his head, like he was a little child.

"I know, I know." He replied and slapped her on her hand playfully, to show her she should stop it.

"I could cut them for you if you want." She said but Ghost shook his head. He was pretty sure that haircuts weren´t Julia´s strong side. She probably would cut more of his head then his hair.

"Well, your loss. You really sure you want to do this?" Julia asked him and as an answer Ghost nodded at her and smiled.

"It´s not the first time we´re doing this." He said and grabbed one of her hands.

"I know, but I think it´s kind of strange. It wasn´t planned before." Julia said and got closer to him.

"Yeah, right but remember it was your idea." Ghost told her and wrapped one arm around her waist.

"You know I said that because the last time my feelings were too messed up to come to a clearly result. This is the only way we´re able to find out what we really want." Julia answered and flung her arms around his neck, bringing their faces close to each other.

"It´s not like I´m complaining, I told you I liked it how your lips felt on mine." Ghost answered and tilted his head a little.

"Yes and I remember you´re a really great kisser. Sure, it wasn´t the best kiss but it clearly was a good one." Julia answered him smiling and cut the short distance they were in.

"Well, thanks for that. Do you believe I still want to kiss you?" Ghost asked her and grinned.

"Of course. Otherwise we wouldn´t be sitting like this." Julia simply said.

"You have a point." Was the last thing Ghost said before their lips met.

"Wow, you really wanted to show me that you´re a great kisser." Julia said as they parted to take a breather.

"You asked for it." Ghost replied smiling and Julia rested her head on his chest.

"Has anything changes?" Ghost asked her and Julia shook her head slightly.

"No, nothing. What´s with you?" She lifted her head and saw how he shook his head too.

"No, the same feeling I had after our first kiss."

"That´s good." Julia smiled a little and looked into his eyes.

"Yes, it is. So we agree about our relation?" He asked her relieved.

"I think so but to be completely sure we maybe should have sex." Julia said drily but started to laugh as she saw Ghost´s surprised look.

"I´m just kidding." She told him and punched his shoulder playfully, making him smile eased.

"You´re really good in kidding people." He said and put his mask back on.

"I know but when I´m thinking of it, we maybe should have sex? Aren´t you curious if we change our opinion after we had sex?" Julia asked him serious and Ghost just stared at her, not knowing what to say to this. Was she kidding him again, or did she mean what she said? Unsure he kept on staring at her with big eyes and a slightly opened mouth. He must have looked like a little child, who explored that there was a difference between male and female. Not able to think straight he stayed in this position, till his head got hit by his own pillow. Confused he snapped out of his trance and leered at Julia, who sat in front of him with a grin on her face and the pillow in her hand. Ghost shrugged a little, shook his head and showed a weak smile, before he stole the pillow from Julia´s hand and carefully hit her in the face with it, making her look at him puzzled. Both sat there a few seconds and looked at each other, before they both started to laugh. They had to admit that they were acting very childish at this moment.

Ghost´s laughter soon died down and he wanted to say something to her, as someone tried to enter the room but was cut off in his doing by the locked door. Ghost and Julia looked at each other somehow terrified and immediately shot up from Ghost´s bed. Taking a deep breath, Ghost stepped up to the door and unlocked it again. Nervous he put his hand on the door knob and opened the door slowly, only to get greeted from the surprised face of his Captain.

Soap looked at Ghost, wondering why he locked the door, turned his head to the side and saw Julia standing in front of Ghost´s bed. He wanted to ask her what she was doing here, alone with Ghost, in a locked room, as he got a clue. Smirking he looked back at Ghost, who clearly found the whole situation pretty embarrassing. Amused Soap shook his head but within a second he got very serious.

"Mac wants to see us all in the conference room." Soap said, turned around and waited for Julia and Ghost to move. With a shrug of her shoulders Julia followed Ghost out of the room and all three made their way to the room. As they entered it, all of the others were waiting for them and after they took a seat everyone turned their attention to Mac, who looked pretty serious.

* * *

"What´s going on Mac?" Price asked him and the General let out a deep breath.

"I wanted to inform you that the 141 base doesn´t exist anymore." Mac said and all soldiers looked at him with eyes wide open.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Chemo asked and stared at the General, waiting impatient for an answer.

"I got informed that someone had blown the whole base up. They used tons of C4 to raze the base to the ground. I don´t know who´s responsible for this, but I´m pretty sure it was Makarov´s deed. The base wasn´t just blown up, two fire fighters got killed as they got there, without gas masks on. They say they died ´cause their lungs collapsed as they were inhaling the air, which was around the base." Mac answered him and closed his eyes. He felt guilty for the death of the two men. If he wouldn´t have been that stubborn as Price told him Makarov was a danger, maybe they would still be alive. Maybe the base wouldn´t be destroyed.

"We were right. He plans to kill a lot of people with toxic gas. We should go and end this now." Price raised his voice and shot up from his chair.

"You´re right John but Makarov´s still in Russia. Someone else must have had the order to blow the base and spread the toxic gas." Mac answered calmly and watched his friend clench his fist in anger.

"He must have accomplices in the UK. We know that he´s in contact with Natasha and we´re sure that she was the one who told him where our base was located but we already checked the waybill of the last planes that left Russia and flew to the UK. We couldn´t find anyone who seemed to be suspicious." Mac kept on explaining and tried to calm Price down, but the Captain´s anger only grew bigger.

"Then we have to find out who destroyed the base and find them. If they started to spread the gas in the UK, maybe they continue to spread it all over Europe." Price said and looked at Mac, who nodded at him.

"You´re right but we also need to keep an eye on Makarov." The General added.

"That means we have to split up and stop at least two different groups. One probably in the UK and one in Russia." Captain Michael Winters added and waited for the General to give him new orders.

"You´re right and we have to be fast. I don´t want to have a crazy men in this world, who starts a new war." The General told them and everyone nodded in agreement.

They had to be back in business. For the peace of the world.


	38. The Mission starts

Tensed Derek sat on the window and watched the building on the other side of the street. Since the day they got the order to keep an eye on Makarov, he was hiding in the old villa, Derek exposed. It was somehow disappointing, that he doesn´t make a move, what did he wait for? What was his great plan? Till yesterday Derek thought it was a waste of time to watch this man but then he got a call from his General, who told him that he was sending more soldiers to them. As Derek asked him why he told him that the base of the 141 got destroyed and that they had reasons to believe that Makarov was the one who gave the order to destroy it. He wondered how his target had managed this, they had wiretapped Makarovs calls and he didn´t call anyone. Had he planned this before he got back to Russia, before they knew about him?

Rubbing his eyes Derek pushed his thoughts aside; it was no use to think about his intends. He couldn´t figure out what was going on in the mind of his enemy, no matter how hard he tried. He had learned from his time in the military that the Intends of an enemy weren´t important for him; the only important thing was to stop the madness, no matter what it would cost. It didn´t even matter if you lose your whole squad, as long as you bring peace to this world. In a war every men is replaceable, the life of a single man didn´t mean anything to anyone. He had to learn this the hard way. He had lost his whole team and felt guilty; guilty for not being with them. Maybe he could have done something to rescue them, maybe the whole mission would have taken another turn.

Trying to focus on his mission he pushed the thoughts away, it wasn´t the right time to reminisce about the past. He had to look forward and concentrate on his work. Squinting his eyes he stared to the building in front of him. On the driveway were two trucks parked and he could see three motorcycles in the garage, which was on the end of the driveway. The huge windows were all closed and the curtains were shut down, so he couldn´t see what was going on inside of the villa. He couldn´t even tell how many men were in the building, as they followed them to this place, he saw Makarov, a woman and two other men stepping out of the truck and enter the building, but since the other truck and the motorcycles were already parked there, he wasn´t sure if more people were inside.

Shaking his head a little he looked down on his watch. The General´s men should be here any minute. Derek started to feel excited; what would Price say if he saw him here? They had been on several missions together but he wasn´t sure if the Captain would be happy to see him. After Derek´s team got killed he had shut down the contact to him; afraid that Price would have asked him if he would help him to hunt Vladimir Makarov down.

It wasn´t because Derek didn´t want revenge for his teammates; he would have done everything to complete their work, but the circumstances in life had changed for him. He was a dad know, he wanted to spend time with his new born daughter and he didn´t want her to lose him like Sandman's daughter had lost her father. He thought he would feel better to be around his girlfriend and his child, but soon he had to learn that this wasn´t the life he wanted to live. He wasn´t made to sit around and do nothing, whilst a war was going on. That´s why he decided to join this Force. He thought it would be perfect for him to be in a backup team and take care of other soldiers, not knowing that his first mission would be to watch over the brother of the man, who was responsible for the death of his friends. But he wouldn´t complain, he know that this team trusted him, even if he was its newest member. Sure, he had already known every member of this team long before he decided to join, he had got the offer from the General, as he built this team the first time, but he refused and decided to join Sandman´s team, but he still felt like he needed to proof himself that he was worth it. Worth it to take care of others, worth it to save the lives of the soldiers, which worked on the front and he wouldn´t back down, not this time.

As Derek heard how the front door of the house he was in got opened his nervousness grew bigger. The team had arrived. Keeping his eyes on the building he switched nervous. Price would soon enter this room and see him. What would he say? How would he act? Would he avoid him? Would he refuse to work with him? Derek felt his heartbeat speed up as the door to the room got opened and he could already hear the Captain´s familiar voice…

* * *

"Gary!" The scream was followed by a passionate kiss and a lovely embrace.

"I didn´t think we would meet that soon." Anna said in joy and smiled widely, her boyfriend was back.

Unable to answer the Sergeant scratched his head and smiled weirdly back. He was happy to see her too, but the grins of his teammates made it nearly impossible to enjoy this moment. He wasn´t used to show his emotions in front of his friends and so he just kept his mouth shut and looked at his girlfriend. Anna was looking good, as always, her bright smile made his heart jump in joy and he felt a little tickle in his stomach. Yes, he definitely was in love with her. He only hadn´t seen her for two days now but he felt like he hadn´t seen her for ages. He wondered if he would have the chance to spend time with her. Secretly he wished that they would stay here for a while but he also was sure of the fact that he couldn´t let his feelings ruin the mission. They were here to find out, who was responsible for the demolition of the base. He needed to focus on his work, his own needs had to wait, till they were finished with their work.

"Anna! Stop your flirting and let them in. It´s not like you haven´t seen him in a long time." Gary heard Gisela´s voice from the inside of the house.

"Shut it mum. What´s wrong in welcoming my boyfriend in a lovely way?" Anna shouted back and stepped aside, to let the soldiers enter the house.

Gary stepped, followed by the others, into the house and saw how Gisela came downstairs. She shook her head, mumbled something with an annoyed face, but showed a smile as she reached the last step.

"Welcome to our house." Gisela said and every soldier replied with a nod and a friendly smile.

"Arthur told me you are on a new mission. Do you want to tell me what this is all about?" She asked and looked at Soap, waiting for him to give her an answer.

"We´re here cause we think someone´s here in the UK, who had orders from Makarov to destroy our base and spread toxic gas all over the country." Soap answered her concerned and Gisela nodded with a serious look on her face.

"Well, I heard that the base got destroyed. They reported about it in the news, the whole last day. So you´re here to find out who did this and hunt them?" She asked and Soap nodded in agreement.

"Fine. I promised Arthur to let you stay in my house, but promise me that you don´t do anything stupid, to run Anna and me into mischief." Gisela continued with a serious voice and Soap just nodded. He knew that it was dangerous for them to let the soldiers live in their house, but they were the only ones, to give the soldiers a place to plan their actions and find a place to sleep.

"Good. That´s all I want to know by now. Let me show you the house and the rooms' you´re able to get some rest." Gisela now said in a friendlier voice and showed the whole team around.

* * *

"So you decided to join Mac?" Price asked Derek, as they had some time to talk. The named one just nodded and stared to the ground.

After Price and the team had entered the house and Price saw him, he acted like he wasn´t mad at him but somehow Derek could feel that something in the Captain´s behavior was wrong. For Derek he was too friendly and welcoming. He was sure that Price was angry at him; angry for not answering his calls; angry for not calling him back after he had spoken on his mailbox; angry ´cause Derek didn´t help him to hunt Makarov down.

"Frost? Talk to me. What´s wrong?" Derek snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to the Captain. Should he tell him that he felt guilty for refusing to help him? Shaking his head slightly Derek knew that he had to tell him, Price wouldn´t leave it.

"I just don´t get it why you´re so friendly to me. You asked me to help you to hunt Makarov down and I refused, I didn´t even had the courage to call you back and tell you that I won´t help you." Derek said and waited for Price to finally show him how he really felt. To let him know, how angry he was. But the Captain just smiled weakly.

"I´m not mad at you, why should I? I understand that you couldn´t help me. Derek, as the world was falling into pieces, you got the greatest gift of all. You were able to be with your girl and witness the birth of your daughter. How could I be mad at you for spending time with your loved ones?" Price told him calmly and Derek needed some time to realize what the Captain had said to him.

"That´s really what you think?" Derek asked him and Price just nodded and patted him on the shoulder, as he stood up from the chair, he was sitting in.

"Come one. We should go back inside to talk about the next things to do." Price said as he walked away from Derek, to enter their hideout again.

Smiling weakly Derek rose up from his chair and followed Price inside, mumbling a quiet "Thanks" as he passed the Captain. Both men entered the room, where they had settled in to keep an eye on the building, and joined the others in their work. Besides Price the General had send Captain Winters, Chrissy, Archer, Meat and Royce to Russia, to help the members of his team. The rest of them was send to the UK, to find the one, responsible for the assault there. The General himself stayed at the base and tried to coordinate both teams; in his doing he got help from Angela and Ghost, who were the only ones who stayed back at base.

A quick look around told Derek, that they were a group of ten now. The six, which got send from the General and the four, which were here before. Derek´s team consisted of himself, a young nurse called Mandy, Paul, the doctor and Daniel, a Sergeant. He wondered if they were enough people for this job, but they had contacts to a Russian resistance group, which they could call if they would need their help.

"What are we going to do now?" Derek asked and watched how Daniel turned his gaze towards him.

"I don´t know. There´s still nothing going on in the villa. I wonder what their plan is. They can´t hide in there forever." The Sergeant said and turned his attention back to the building.

"If they´re not coming out. We should go in." Price said determined and lighted a cigar.

"You think that´s a good idea? How are we going to do this? We can´t just go there, knock on the door and tell them they should give up." Michael answered and Price just rolled his eyes.

"I know that. That´s why I have a plan." Price replied smirking.

"A plan? Tell me about it." Michael shot the Captain a surprised look, what was going on in the older man´s head.

"I´m sure they wouldn´t refuse two girls, who are scantily clad." Price said and looked at Mandy and Chrissy.

Both women shared a look. Did the Captain really mean what he said? He wanted to send them both in there, lightly dressed, to find out what they were doing? Swallowing hard Chrissy looked back to the Captain, to see if he was joking, but he kept a straight face. Great, he wasn´t kidding. For the first time Chrissy wondered what she had signed up for..


	39. Little steps ahead

**I´m sorry for the long wait but I´m busy with work and school at the moment and my exams start next week, so I have to focus on them more. I´ll try to write the next chapters this weekend and hope I can finish them to continue the story. That´s been said and now I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**One more thing To Donakiko: I think that Frost didn´t get killed in MW 3, if I remember right he wasn´t on the last mission of his team, where they all died. But I´m not completely sure so if he died in the game he is one more Character that comes back to life in my story and I think that´s the more important think :-)**

* * *

„That´s the stupidest thing I ever heard." Michael yelled in frustration after Price had told them what his plan was.

"You really think that this is going to work? I mean why should two girls go to that house and try to get into it?" Derek asked his friend and waited for a good answer.

"What else could we do? The woman who´s with them knows every one of my men and I´m sure they will figure out that you´re men soldiers too." Price tried to calm the whole situation down. He knew that this wasn´t the best plan he ever had, but at least it was something they should think about.

"I don´t care. I don´t send two nurses in there. Who knows what they would do to them." Michael yelled still angry.

"Michael. Calm down. I think the Captain´s right about sending us to the house but we need another reason to go there." Chrissy said and smiled at Michael, knowing that she could make him shut up.

Headshaking Michael kept quiet and seemed to relax a bit. He still wasn´t happy to send Mandy and Chrissy out there but he also knew it was their only chance. Thinking of a better reason to get entrance to the house, he placed himself next to Daniel, who was spotting the villa. From the outside the huge building seemed like no one was in there, if the trucks weren´t parked in front of it. Their reason they wanted to tell them, to enter the house must be a really good one. Maybe they should pretend to be workers, which wanted to check the power lines in the house, but would two women work as electricians? No, probably not. Knitting his eye brows the Captain thought about pretending that the girls wanted to sell self-made cakes, like pathfinders would do, to gain money for social programs. No, this wouldn´t work either, Chrissy and Mandy were too old to pretend this.

Michael had to admit that it wasn´t easy to find a good reason, to send the girls in there. All the scenarios he imagined were too obvious, too see through, they would immediately know that something was wrong. Desperate he turned his gaze away from the villa and looked around, to check his teammates, which all were in deep thoughts. He knew that every single one of them was thinking about a good plan. A plan to infiltrate the house and go behind Makarov´s plans.

"Why don´t we go there and say that our car broke and that we need to make a call?" Mandy came up with that idea and as no one else said something to it, Michael had to admit, that this was the best idea they had till now.

"It´s risky but I think we should give it a try." The young Captain answered and waited for any response from Price. He watched the older Captain; he had his eyes closed and rubbed his chin in a deep thought. Would he agree to it? It wasn´t a very good plan, but it was definitely better than the one Price had. Michael cleared his throat, making Price open his eyes and face him.

"I don´t agree with you in that. It´s not much better than my plan. There must be something else we could do. What about the phone? Did they make any calls in the last few days?" Price asked and looked at Derek.

"They made some but nothing special. One of them called his girlfriend, one ordered something to eat yesterday and one talked to a friend." Derek explained disappointed and Price just nodded, to sign he had listened to him.

"For god's sake. There must be something we can do." Chrissy raised her hands in the air, she thought they could get this done quickly.

"I´m afraid we have to wait before we do something stupid. Our plans aren´t good enough. I´d say we wait two more days. Maybe the team in the UK gets some information on Makarov´s plan." Price stated and after a moment of silence everyone agreed with him. If the team in the UK would find out what Makarov was planning, they could at least try to foil his plan. Price looked out of the window and hoped that the team in the UK would be alright.

* * *

"Have you found something?" Angela asked Ghost as she entered the conference room.

Ghost gave her a weak smile as she took a seat next to him, nodded to her and kept on looking on his laptop. While Angela had found out that the base got destroyed by three men, Ghost had checked the names of previously convicted persons, which were in London the day the attack against the base was. He differentiated the persons, which worked alone, from the persons, which worked in groups, to minimize the circle of suspects. Ghost thought with that he would find out soon, who was responsible for the attack, but he quickly realized that there were much more violent groups in London then he ever imagined. They were too much, to check on every group and so Ghost decided to keep an eye on groups, which arrived in London, shortly before the attack.

"Three groups had arrived in London, shortly before the attack. They´re all known for violent acts against the government and one of them often sets bombs in buildings, ready to blow them, if the government doesn´t agree with their demands." He explained to her and Angela nodded in response.

"Do you know where they are at the moment?" She kept on asking and Ghost tipped on his keyboard, showing her some addresses.

"These are the places, where they are most of the time. I was going to give Soap a call and tell him the addresses." Ghost answered.

"Well, before you call them, we have to tell Mac, what we have found out." Angela reminded him and was about to stand up again, as Ghost let out a deep sigh and Angela paused in her movement.

"Something´s wrong?" She asked him and Ghost looked up into her eyes but didn´t response.

Angela noticed that he tried to find the right words and sat back in her chair. She eyeballed the Lieutenant and noticed that his hands trembled and he shifted nervous in his seat. Angela wondered why he got so insecure, after she told him to give the information to Mac. Was Ghost afraid of the General´s orders? Did he think that the General would tell them to keep on searching and that their information weren´t good enough? Showing a weak smile she opened her mouth to speak.

"You don´t trust the General, do you?" Ghost looked at her surprised and just nodded.

"I think he´s acting weird. Since the 141 is back at business, he keeps telling us to slow down and think about our actions." Ghost admitted and as Angela nodded he continued.

"He also kept secrets from us. As we left our base, he didn´t tell us, where this base is. He´s always distant and spends more time in his office, then with us. I´m sure he´s up to something and doesn´t wants us to know."

"Ghost. You totally get him wrong. Sure, Mac acts pretty weird sometimes, I admit that, but he doesn´t want to affect our work. He knows that he can count on us and that we´ll do anything to stop this madness, which is going on right now. I know that he has some personal problems right now and he needs time to figure out what to do with them." Angela replied with a smile.

"Is it because he´s now with Price´s wife?" Ghost asked and Angela looked at him shocked.

"What? You think we didn´t notice? It´s pretty obvious that they are together." Ghost smirked as Angela shook her head in disbelief.

"Really?" Was all she could say.

"Really. I´m sure even Price knows about them." Ghost added and slowly stood up from his spot.

"You think we should tell Mac that you know?" Angela asked and stood up too.

"No, I think this would make the whole situation more difficulty than it is right now. Besides it´s none of our business, we need to focus on our mission." Ghost answered her as he left the room with Angela.

"You´re right. We´re not supposed to stick our noses in other people´s life." Angela said and soon both reached the General´s office.

* * *

"Yes, Sir, understood." Soap hung up the phone and took a deep breath.

The General had called him and told him that they found out about a terror group, not for away from their location and ordered him to get his men and observe them. A little nervous Soap got up from his spot in the small bedroom he was in and headed for the door. As he opened it he could hear laughter from downstairs. With a little smile he closed his door and made his way through the large corridor, to go down to the ground floor, where most of the soldiers were at.

As he got downstairs, he turned to his left and walked into the large living room, where Roach, Toad, Chemo, Poet and Jason Curtis were sitting and watching a soccer game. From their excited looks he could tell that they enjoyed the little brake in their work and Soap was somehow disappointed that he had to tell them that their mission was about to start now. He decided to stay in the door frame for a few minutes and not disturb their happy get-together. He was sure that they wouldn´t have the time to relax when the mission finally got started. He rubbed his left wrist and crossed his arms; since they had their reunion, they didn´t had much time to enjoy their lives. Each time they finished a mission, the next one wasn´t far away. They got in trouble all the time and Soap wondered if they would ever be able to live a normal life again. He smirked at his own thought and shook his head; was he even able to live a normal life without fighting? As he joined the military he was sure of the fact that it wouldn´t be easy to have a life outside of it and he didn´t mind the fact, that maybe he wouldn´t ever have a family on his own and after the dramatic events he had with this Natasha he wasn´t sure if he ever would feel comfortable with a woman touching him. Despite the fact that he wouldn´t be able to have a family on his own, he wished that at least some of his men would get the chance to settle down and be with their loved ones.

Letting out another sigh he stepped up to the couch his men were chilling and placed himself in front of the TV. He earned some disappointed screams from his teammates but as they realized the serious look on his face, they all shut up and Jason, who had the remote in his hands switched the TV off.

"What´s wrong Captain?" Roach asked his Superior and stared at him, knowing that MacTavish always looked like that when they had a new mission going on.

"I got a call from the General. He told me they found out that our base was destroyed by three men and that they think it was a terror group, which did this. He also informed me about the place they think the members of this group always meet and he wants us to check the place and keep an eye on them." MacTavish explained and noticed how every men´s face got serious and they all nodded in agreement.

"When are we leaving?" Toad asked and stood up from the couch.

"You have 20 minutes to get ready." Soap told them and started to leave the room, the make himself ready.

"20 minutes? The girls aren´t here yet. Should I give them a call and tell them to meet us there?" Chemo asked but Soap shook his head.

"They´re not coming with us. It´s just an observation, we´re not going to need a backup." Soap said and went back upstairs, hoping it wasn´t a mistake to go there without any hidden help.

* * *

"You think Gary likes this?" Anna asked as she came out of the locker room and showed Caroline and Julia, the dress she was wearing.

Both women exchanged a look and nodded at Anna with a smile. She wore a red strapless dress, which ended shortly after her bum and showed her feminine curves perfectly. The bright red matched perfectly with her complexion; she was looking like the dress was especially made for her.

"I think he´ll love it." Caroline said and Anna started to giggle.

"Good. That´s what I wanted you to say." Anna replied and happily got back into the locker room, to get changed again.

"I hope that was the last one." Julia said bored and crossed her legs. Caroline and her were sitting on this grey couch for almost half an hour, only to wait for Anna to finally decide what she was going to buy. To Julia it was pretty ridiculous that Anna actually wanted to know how she looked like in these clothes, this girl could wear anything, and she would even make a trash bag look good at her.

"Come on. It´s fun, isn´t it?" Caroline laughed and punched Julia on the shoulder. Rolling her eyes Julia shot up from the couch and stretched her back.

"Oh yes, I´m enjoying myself to death." Julia replied sarcastically and yawned.

"Hey, it´s not our fault that you´re pissed that Ghost isn´t here." Caroline said and watched amused how Julia shot her a killing glance.

"I´m not pissed. Why should I?" Julia said angry; Caroline really knew how to annoy her.

"Hm...Maybe ´cause you´re here with me and Ghost is back at base with Angela." Caroline continued and stood up, to stand next to Julia.

"That´s all? You´re arguments were better before." Julia replied smiling and studied the frame next to her.

"That´s a lot and you know that. We both know that Angela is attractive to most men, not like us. She´s just so much better looking than you and me and you know that she has a weakness for mysterious guys. I wouldn´t be surprised if they two start to have a little romance." Caroline explained and looked to the locker room, Anna was stepping out.

Julia shook her head and groaned as she followed the others to the cashpoint. She thought about Caroline´s words and wanted to give her an answer, as her attention got caught from a man, which was standing outside of the store and talked to his girlfriend. Julia squinted her eyes, something about this man seemed familiar to her. She eyed him intensive and without realizing what she was doing she moved up to the window.

"Julia! Hey, come on. We´re leaving." Caroline grabbed her by her arm, making Julia look in her face.

"What are you do…" Caroline started but was cut off by Julia, who started to run out of the store.

Julia cursed silently as she made her way through the knot of people, which had formed outside of the store. She wondered if the people here in this town didn´t need to work, like other normal people would on a Monday morning. Shaking her head she finally made her way through the crowd. She looked around and tried to find the man, she saw from inside the store. She blamed herself for losing him, if she hadn´t looked at Caroline she would know where he went. Frustrated she turned around a corner, why was he even here? Had he something to do with the attack against the base? She knew that his family was part of the Irish mafia but he had told her that he wasn´t working for them but somehow Julia felt that he could give her important information.

Julia looked around; she had arrived at the town square, the place was too huge to find him here. She raised her hands in the air frustrated and murmured something, before she put them down again and shook her head. It would have been too easy to find him again. Why should it go easy for her? Pretty disappointed she was about to head back to where she left Anna and Caroline as someone laid a hand on her shoulder. Julia startled by the touch, which send a shiver down her spine. She swallowed hard and turned around slowly, to get greeted from a smiling, familiar face.

"Hey Julia!" The blond man smiled brightly at her and Julia felt relieved as she looked into his face.

"Hey, I was looking for you. Ian."


	40. Hostage

„Any signs of our targets? " Soap whispered into his comms, as he sat outside of the little cafe, near the city limit, where they waited for their suspect to show up.

"No Sir. Absolutely nothing. I doubt that they are coming." Toad replied. The sniper had taken his position on the rooftop of an office block, to check the whole surrounding, but till now, nothing spectacular happened.

"I know it´s boring but we need to stay. Keep your eyes open!" Soap ordered disappointed on how they were stuck here. They waited almost two hours and still there was no sign of the group, maybe they were wrong and they had left the town already.

"What you´re thinking about?" Soap sighed loudly and looked to Lieutenant Smith, who was sitting opposite of him. The older man eyed Soap intensively and could tell from the expression on his face, that the young man was concerned about the observation.

"I wonder if this is just a waste of time. What should we do if they don´t show up? This group is our best track. If they aren´t here anymore, we have to check on all of the other groups that are still here." Soap said and looked down at his hands, which he had clenched in anger.

The Lieutenant just shook his head and didn´t response to him. He knew that the Captain´s doubts were adequate to their situation. He himself wished nothing more to get this job done quickly and protect the world from the next threat. Concerned he turned his gaze to the quiet street on his left side. Since they were here, not many cars had passed by and in the café weren´t much guests. It was the perfect setting for the meeting of a terror group. They could act like normal civilians but at the same time work on their plans, without much civil commotion. The older man wanted to start a conversation with Soap, as he heard Jason speak over the comms.

"Sirs? A black Lincoln is coming this way." He spoke and Soap turned his gaze back up to the street.

"Good. Do you see who´s in there?" Soap replied and waited for Jason to check the identity of the passengers.

"No, sorry Sir. Their windows are tinted." Jason informed him and Soap felt himself getting nervous. Maybe they had luck and their wait was over.

"Well, stay at your position and wait for my orders." Soap ordered and the comms went silent again. Jason, who was sitting on a bench in a small site street eyed the car, as it turned around the corner and disappeared out of his sight. His right hand reached down inside of his jacket and he tightened his grip around the pistol he carried with him. If their targets were in this car, MacTavish soon would give him the order to come to the café and support their observation.

"Should I come out Captain?" Soap heard Roaches voice over his comms and quickly shook his head.

"No, stay in there Roach. Keep an eye on them." Soap answered and the Sergeant nodded to him, as the Captain turned his gaze to him. Roach was sitting inside of the café and kept an eye on his Captain, to support him, if something would go wrong.

Soap squinted his eyes as the black car stopped in front of the café and four men stepped out of it. It was hard to see their faces ´cause they all wore sunglasses and hats, which they had pulled down to cover the upper part of their faces. To not get their attention Soap quickly looked away as one of them looked into his direction; he hoped the man hadn´t noticed that he watched him get out of the car. Soap hold his breath nervous, the man seemed to look right into his head and wanted to read his mind. Soap leered up to him and the man gave him a weak smile before he nodded to the other three that were with him and all four took a seat on the table next to Soap and the Lieutenant. As Soap was sure the man wasn´t watching him anymore he let out the air he was holding but kept his eyes on his own table.

Recognizing movement on the table of their supposed targets Soap took another quick look at the men and saw that they had put their sunglasses and hats down. He quickly checked the men, before he was sure their targets had arrived. Somehow relieved he turned his head to the other side and whispered to Jason that he should come to the café now. A quick look to the rooftop, where Toad had taken his position and a nod, gave the sniper the sign that he should make himself ready to give them support, if the situation was getting too risky.

Shortly after Soap had given his orders to Jason, the young Sergeant arrived at the café and took a seat on an empty table behind Soap and the Lieutenant. Taking deep breaths Soap tried to focus on the conversation the four men had on their table. He knitted his eyebrows as he heard them argue about something. One of the men was clearly not satisfied with the behavior of the others. Soap could hear how anger swung in the voice of the man, but couldn´t exactly understand what he was saying. He cursed silently, why were they whispering? He thought this was their secret place, they don´t had to be quiet. Was it possible that they knew that they got watched? How could they? Headshaking he turned his comms on once more and contacted Chemo, who was sitting in a car with Poet, not far away.

"Chemo! I can´t understand what they are talking about." Soap whispered angry.

"That shouldn´t be a problem sir." Chemo replied enthusiastically and nodded to Poet, who was sitting in front of a laptop. The soldier immediately understood what his partner needed from him and quickly let his fingers flow over the keyboard. A few seconds passed, before Poet nodded to Chemo and the named one showed a big smile.

"We´re ready Captain." He told Soap and suddenly the Captain heard the conversation loud and clear over his comms. He smiled; it was a good idea to bug the tables in the café.

"What were you thinking? I told you to not make any business with the Russians. Don´t you remember that one of them was the reason for the war?" The one man said angrily and waited for any response from the others. As they stayed silent and hung their heads in shame, he shook his head and bristled with anger.

"What did they pay you? Was it enough to be responsible for the death of two people? Are you happy now?" He continued and crossed his arms. He couldn´t understand what the others had done.

"We didn´t know that the gas was toxic. He just told us to blow this base up, he didn´t say a word about gas." One of the man had the strength to answer back.

"That´s why I always told you to think about your actions. You know that they will find out who destroyed the base? Do you have any idea what this would cause to our family? I don´t know what I should tell your mum, if you all have to go to jail." The man said still angry.

"What do you want us to do? It´s done, we can´t turn back the clock." Another man joined the conversation and had to try his best to not yell at the other man.

"I want you to go to the police and tell them that you were the ones who did this." The older man demanded and earned shocked looks from his partners.

"Are you serious dad? They´ll send us straight to jail." The third man said and stared at his father in disbelief.

"That´s what you deserve." The older man just said and shot up from his chair.

"Dad!" One of the man now yelled and got the attention of everyone outside of the café.

"It´s not over now."

"What do you mean? What else is going on there?" The father asked and raised an eye brow.

"We got paid for another job." The younger man added and stared at his father with an evil grin.

Fear grew up in the older man and he shot his eyes wide open; he knew what his sons meant with that statement.

"Is money more worth to you then the life of your own father?" He asked with a shaking voice and tried to stand up from his chair.

"You were the one who always told us that money rules the world. Don´t you remember?" His son next to him whispered into his ear, as he grabbed one arm of his father and with the other hand he reached into his jacket and pulled a weapon out.

Before Soap had the time to realize what was happening Lieutenant Smith shot up from his chair, pulled his pistol out and pointed it to the man, who had risen just a few seconds earlier and now used his own father as shield. Quickly after that Soap did the same and pointed his gun to the second man and a quick glance to Jason told him, that he pointed at the third man.

"Put your weapons down or I´ll shoot him." The man yelled and pressed his gun against his father's head.

"Why should we care?" Lieutenant Smith yelled back and kept his gun aimed.

"Lieutenant!" Soap couldn´t hold a frantically yell back. There weren´t here to destroy this group and get rid of its members. Even if this man was a criminal they didn´t have the right to let him die.

"What Captain? If they want to shoot one of their own man, why should we care?" The Lieutenant yelled angry back.

"I´m not talking about my dad!" The man answered amused, as he saw the puzzled looks on his enemies face.

Soap wanted to ask the man, what he was talking about, as he heard Toad speak over the comms with a clearly fearful voice.

"Captain? I think we are in trouble now." Toad said and leered to the gun that was pointed to his head. He hadn´t heard the man coming and now he was forced to raise his hands in the air and hope that his Captain Wouldn´t do anything stupid.

Soap swallowed hard and looked into the café, to only see that Roach wasn´t at his spot anymore. Somehow Soap prayed that Roach had managed to leave the building and hide somewhere, to ease the situation, but his hopes soon got destroyed as he saw how Roach got dragged out of the café. Soap took a look over the whole scenario and his eyes widened in shock; their plan went totally wrong. In defeat he lowered his gun and gave the others the sign to do the same and they all let their weapons slip to the floor.

Soap hung his head as every one of them got dragged into a black truck and the door got closed behind him. Why was it always him that got captured? A look around told him that even Poet and Chemo got captured and with that there seemed to be no hope for them to got rescued.

* * *

For the tenth time this day, Price walked up and down in the room, anxious for the Russians to make a step. They had arrived five hours ago and Price already got depressed. He was sure that if they had to wait any longer, he would just storm the building and just kill every one, who was in there. Frustrated he snorted and took a seat on the old worn out, brown couch, that was standing in the middle of the room. He looked around and recognized that all of his teammates were as bored as he was. It wasn´t usual for them to wait and do not know what to do. If their enemies at least would make some calls, Price wouldn´t even mind if they weren´t useful for them, just to have something to do. Suddenly, as if his enemies could read his mind, Derek announced that someone in the house was making a call. The silent chatter in the room died down completely and everyone was listening carefully to the words that were spoken.

"What did they say?" Mandy asked as the call was over. She hadn´t understand a single word, Mandy didn´t speak Russian.

"They booked a table for four people in a Restaurant. Tonight at 7 o`clock." Price explained her with a sparkle of enthusiasm in his eyes.

"That´s our chance." Michael added and Price nodded in response.

"It´s a public place so we can send our two girls there without putting them into danger."

"Right. Derek?" Price asked.

"Sure thing Sir. A table for two at half past six, to observe the restaurant before they arrive." Derek answered smiling and Price putted him proudly on the back. The two men understood each other without much words.

"That means we have one more hour to get ready?" Chrissy asked in excitement and stood up from the chair, she was sitting, dragging Mandy out of the room.

"What are they doing?" Price asked puzzled and looked at the younger Captain.

"What do you think? They get ready to go out." He answered and shook his head in amusement.

The hour passed by very quickly and Chrissy and Mandy were on their way to the restaurant. It was a high class place and so both of them had put dresses on, to fit in there. Nervous both of them got out of the car, which was driven by Meat and Royce. The two soldiers had the order to drive the two girls and then meet with Price and Michael in a van, not for away from the restaurant, where they could watch what was going on in there and gave instructions to the two women. The other soldiers stayed back at their hideout, to observe if something was going on, whilst the others were away.

* * *

As Mandy and Chrissy entered the restaurant, they immediately got welcomed by a garcon, who let them to their table. With big eyes both women followed him, the scene was just too pretty to not take a look around. The restaurant was built in an old government building with stucco on the ceiling and big lusters hanging from it. The walls were painted in dark red and white and the window frames were covered with golden color. On the end of the dining hall was a little stage, where a string quartet was playing classical music. The garcon let them to a small table, covered with a white tablecloth, plates made of sterling and sterling cutlery. In the middle of it was a bouquet made of white and red roses. To Chrissy it was unbelievable beautiful in here, but she knew that she hadn´t have the time to enjoy the setting they were in. A look on the big clock on one of the walls showed her that they only had ten more minutes, till Makarov would arrive here. Taking a deep breath she heard Derek announce over the comms that Makarov and the woman had left the house. Here we go. She thought and looked at Mandy, who was pretty nervous. The young nurse looked around frantically and tapped nervous with one foot.

"Calm down Mandy. Everything´s will be fine." Chrissy tried to calm her down and smiled at the younger woman.

"I…I know." Mandy answered with a shaking voice and tried to hide how nervous she really was.

Chrissy felt sorry for her, she knew that Mandy was totally afraid that something could go wrong. It was the first mission where Mandy wasn´t there for back up. It was a big step ahead for her to be part of such an important mission and she didn´t want to fuck the situation up. Chrissy for herself was nervous too but she trusted her teammates to protect her from any harm. She knew that Makarov was a dangerous man and he wouldn´t waste only a sec to kill her and Mandy if he would find out who they were but she promised to herself that she would do anything she could to stop him. Sighing Chrissy tried to relax a bit, how should they know that she was part of a secret force? Her camouflage was perfect, she and Mandy fitted in here like every other person. Besides they were here to observe, not to start a fight. Smiling at her friend Chrissy heard Price speak that Makarov and his company had arrived at the restaurant.

Chrissy took a deep breath to calm down and turned around to look at the entrance curious to finally face her enemy. She saw a few couples come into the big hall and in the distance she recognized Makarov´s face. He was standing in front of the same garcon, who let Chrissy and Mandy to their table and after the man had doffed the jackets of them both off he signed them to follow him into the dining hall. As they came closer to Mandy and Chrissy's table she quickly turned around again, she couldn´t allow herself to stare too much at them. It would be rude and awkward. Chrissy heard the voice of the garcon near her ear and leered to her left, to see he was about to pass their table. Holding her breath Chrissy peered at Makarov and Natasha but quickly looked away as the woman glanced down to Chrissy and smiled. Chrissy could hear her chuckle as she continued to follow the garcon and as she was sure they were out of earshot she let the air out loudly.

She kept herself telling that Natasha just pretended to be friendly and just smiled at her to show good manners. Carefully Chrissy looked at the table Makarov had taken a seat; it wasn´t far away from their own table. Somehow confused Chrissy asked herself for who they would wait. They ordered a table for four person but right now it was only the two, who sat there. Would they meet with an associate partner? Maybe the ones who destroyed the base in the UK now where here in Russia and they were planning their next steps? Caught deep in her thoughts Chrissy at first didn´t realize the garcon, who had come to their table to take their order what they wanted to drink. The man in front of her cleared his throat and looked at Chrissy with one eye brow raised. As Chrissy still didn´t react, Mandy nudged her on her arm and Chrissy snapped out of her thoughts headshaking. She looked at Mandy confused, who smiled at her and pointed to the garcon. Showing an ashamed smile Chrissy ordered something to drink for her and Mandy and the garcon left still angry on the women´s behavior, to get their order. He came back only two minutes later, placed the drinks on the table and handed the both women the menu card, before he left and got back to Makarov´s table. Chrissy flipped the menu card open and her eyes grew wide as she saw how expensive the meals here were.

"With this money you could buy food that lasts for a week." She said in disbelief and Mandy started to chuckle.

"It doesn´t matter now. Just order what you want to eat." She heard Price tell her.

"Wow, really? You´re really generous Captain." Mandy answered back and looked through the card, to find something she wanted to eat, luckily for her the card was written in Russian and English.

"I´m not the one who has to pay the bill." Price replied with a smile.

"Us neither. We don´t get that much paid in the military." Chrissy said wondering who should pay their meals.

"I know, that´s why we send the bill to Mac. It´s no problem for him to pay this." Price said and Chrissy swore that he was smirking at his own statement.

"Well, if you say so." Mandy answered and soon she and Chrissy had ordered what they wanted to eat.

Chrissy and Mandy had finished their meal and both had to admit that it wasn´t something special. Sure, it was different from the meals they normally ate but they couldn´t understand why it was so expensive. Maybe the great location was the reason for the prices. Sated, both women leaned back in their chairs and watched Makarov sit on his table, finishing his meal. Till now no one else came to join him on the table and the two remaining chairs were still empty. Chrissy thought it was strange that he was here with this woman, they hadn´t talk a single word since they were here. Maybe this was the wrong place to get information out of them, maybe they just were here to eat something special and then head back to their hideout. Chrissy checked her purse, she had brought along, in it they had hide a small camera and a sound amplifier, to record their conversation. At least that was their plan but since there was no conversation there was nothing important to record.

* * *

"Can I have the next dance?" Chrissy got interrupted in her doing and looked up to meet with the dark brown eyes of a young man. Chrissy raised an eye brow, was he talking to her? Confused she looked at Mandy, who sat next to her and just shrugged her shoulders. Unsure what to do Chrissy just stared at the man, not giving him an answer.

"Come on. Don´t be so shy, I won´t bite you." The man continued and outstretched an arm in Chrissy´s direction.

"I don´t…" Chrissy was about to refuse his offer as she took a look at Makarov´s table and saw that he had left it. Afraid they had lost him she looked around in panic but saw him in front of the stage, dancing with Natasha. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes for a sec, before she showed a big smile to the young man in front of her.

"Sure, why not?" She said, took the man´s hand and followed him to the dance floor. Chrissy turned around once more and silently mouthed to Mandy that she should keep her eyes open. Mandy just nodded and kept her eyes on Makarov.

"I watched you the whole evening." The young man told Chrissy as they did their first dance.

"Really? Why?" Chrissy asked curious, was this man a pervert?

"It´s hard to not look at a beauty like you are." He told her with a grin on his face.

Chrissy just nodded and smiled at him. She felt uncomfortable right now, somehow this man was really weird. She was lucky that they played a fast song so they had to dance too close with him.

"You´re a really good dancer." The man continued still with that grin on his face.

"Thanks. The same to you." She said disgusting clearly in her voice. This man really was freaking her out.

"But I have to say it´s true what they say about blonde women." He suddenly said and his smile faded away.

"What do you mean?" Chrissy asked him puzzled and tried her best to keep an eye on Makarov, who still was on the dance floor.

"That they aren´t the smartest." He told her and Chrissy clearly could hear antipathy in his voice.

She was about to answer him as the music stopped playing and the next song began to play. Chrissy stood in front of the man and wondered what he wanted to tell her with that statement as he suddenly turned around and walked back to her table, where Mandy was still siting. First confused Chrissy shook her head and wanted to follow him, to stop him from dragging Mandy to the dance floor as she was grabbed by a hand and got turned around, bouncing against a well build chest. Angry Chrissy wanted to yell at the man, who had now laid his arms around her as she looked up and met with a face, she hadn´t expected.

"Oh, are you afraid my little nurse?" The man asked her in a deep voice, his Russian accent clearly hearable.

Chrissy just stared at him with big eyes, unable to say something. The man must have recognized her look ´cause he started to laugh crazy.

"You really think we didn´t notice that you were watching us? Come on, we´re not stupid." He told her and began to dance with her to the rhythm of the music.

"What do you want?" Chrissy whispered in a shaking voice. That wasn´t what they had planned.

"For now just the company of you and your friend over there. Come on and don´t try anything stupid, it would be a shame to shoot you." The man answered her and signed her to follow her to his table. Paralyzed Chrissy stood there, unsure what to do. She heard Price over the comms, yelling at her what was going on but Chrissy couldn´t answer. Fear had taken control of her; fear for her own life. Still unable to move Chrissy got grabbed roughly on her upper arm and as she glanced to her side she saw Natasha, who looked at her with squinted eyes and a hateful expression on her face.

Chrissy felt how her body began to shiver as she faced the woman. Why did she do this to her? Wasn´t it already enough? Chrissy felt how her eyes began to burn and she had a hard fight to hold the tears back, which were forming in her eyes. She swallowed hard as she realized the woman got impatient with her, she needed to do what they wanted from her and so Chrissy slowly walked over to the table and took a seat next to Mandy.

"Let me talk to your Captain!" Natasha demanded and waited for Chrissy to give her the earpiece she was wearing. In a state of Trance Chrissy reached up to her ear, still hearing Price yell into the comms, put it out and handed it over to Natasha. The woman took it with a smirk and put it into her own ear.

"Nice to hear you again Captain." Natasha said and took a seat next to Makarov, who sat there and smiled.

"Oh, such hard words from such a lovely man. You hurt me deeply." Natasha seemed to make fun out of Price´s furious screaming.

"Oh, if you come in now your other soldiers in your perfect hideout will die. What I want? Isn´t it obvious Captain? I´ll take these two girls with me and your men let us pass. Well Captain as I told you, if you try to stoop us we´ll blow your hideout, just like your base. I knew you would understand." Natasha said and turned the comms off.

"Come on. We´re leaving." Natasha told them and Chrissy and Mandy got forced out of their chairs.

"Just act normal and nothing bad will happen to you." Makarov told them as he started to walk to the entrance.

Mandy and Chrissy exchanged a look and both women knew they had no other change then to do what they wanted them to do. Slowly they followed Makarov out of the dining hall and waited for the garcon to give them their jackets back. With shaking hands Chrissy and Mandy put their jackets on and looked at Makarov, who had turned around and faced the two women.

"Come on. Don´t look so sad. Show me a smile." He said and as both didn´t do what he said Natasha stepped up to them, looked around and as she was sure no one was paying attention she gave both a slap in the face, making Mandy whimper in pain.

"Do what he says." Natasha added angrily and eyed the two women, who looked down to the floor in shame.

"Do it or I won´t be that nice again." Natasha said angrier and Mandy looked at her in fear. She didn´t want to get hurt. She swallowed hard and tried to show him a smile. Her mouth slightly switched to a weak and tortured smile. Chrissy on the other hand looked up at Natasha, shot her a killing glance and put on a disgusted face, before she smiled weakly.

"Good." Makarov said amused and opened the door to leave the restaurant.

As he got out he saw Price and his man standing on the other side of the street, looking at him angry but Makarov didn´t care. He knew they wouldn´t harm him now and snobbish he boarded the black truck, that was waiting for them outside. He took a seat and waited for Natasha and the two girls to join him. As all four sat in the car, he gave the driver the instruction to bring them away from here and slowly the car started to move.

Chrissy and Mandy sat in the car and kept her heads down, they didn´t want to look at their kidnappers. Their mission went totally wrong and now they were all alone. No one was here to help them out and they feared for their lives. Natasha, who recognized their stare to the floor smiled evil and turned the comms on once more.

"Captain?" She spoke into it and Price answered her disgusted.

"What now? Don´t you have what you wanted?" Price asked her in a harsh tone.

"Still pissy?" Natasha shortly asked back and smiled.

"What do you expect? Why do you need both? Can´t you let at least one free?" He tried to negotiate with her.

"Oh I could but I´m not in the right mood. Make me an offer. Maybe I change my opinion." She replied still smiling.

"An Offer? No, tell me what you want and I see what I can do." Price told her, he surely was desperate, otherwise he wouldn´t give her the opportunity to choose.

"Oh dear Captain! We all have to pay a Price." She answered him and turned the comms off again.


	41. Betrayed

„What do you want to talk about?" Ian asked Julia as they made their way back to the store, where she had left Anna and Caroline.

Julia took a deep breath and leered to Ian´s girlfriend, who walked next to him. Could she ask him about his criminal family members in front of her? Did she know that his family was part of the mafia? Unsure she bit her lower lip and thought about the right words to not get herself and Ian into trouble.

"It´s something very personal." Julia tried to start the conversation carefully.

"It´s about my family right?" Ian asked in response and smiled as Julia looked at him with her mouth slightly open in surprise.

"It´s okay. Bianca knows that my family is part of the mafia, don´t worry." He told her and wrapped an arm around his girlfriend and pulled her close.

"Well, since you know I want to ask you questions about your family, you sure know if they had something to do with the base, which got destroyed." Julia said and waited for Ian to give her a good answer.

The young Irish man let out a sigh and nodded ashamed. "My brothers blew it up."

"Do you know why they did it?" Julia kept on asking somehow relieved that she found out who was responsible for the attack.

"I don´t know exactly. My dad called me this morning and told me he was going to meet them and ask them what they were thinking. Don´t get me wrong, what my family does isn´t good in any case, but they never killed someone. My dad always kept telling them that there´s no need to kill people, to get what they want but now they are responsible for the dead of two innocent fire fighters and I´m sure my dad´s gonna kick their arses right now. I´m just here to make sure them don´t kill each other." Ian explained her and showed a tortured smile. He clearly wasn´t happy to get involved in the actions of his family.

"And you think your dad can handle with your brothers all alone?" Julia kept on asking and turned her gaze down the street, where she saw Anna and Caroline standing in front of another store.

"I hope so. He told me he wanted to convince them to go to the police and tell them what they did but I know my brothers. They´re too impulsive and act without thinking too much about the consequences. All I can hope for is that they´re listening to him and admit that it was wrong what they did." Ian told her and stopped walking as the three reached the store, where Anna and Caroline were waiting.

"Why did you run away? Were you really that bored?" Caroline asked pretty angry as Julia stood in front of her. Amused Julia smiled and shook her head, waiting for Caroline to continue her speech.

Caroline was about to continue as she recognized the young man and woman standing next to Julia. Caroline looked from the couple to Julia, back to the couple and again back to Julia. Slightly shaking her head she wondered from where Julia knew them.

"Who´s that?" Anna joined the conversation and pointed at Ian and Bianca.

"That´s Ian. We worked together in the Russian hospital and the girl next to him is his girlfriend Bianca." Julia introduced the two strangers to her friends and Anna didn´t waste time to shake their hands.

"Ian? The physiotherapist you told me?" Caroline asked as she too shook their hands. Julia nodded in response and Caroline seemed to think about something.

"Something´s wrong?" Julia asked her friend, knowing that Caroline was thinking about something.

"No, nothing. I just wonder what he´s doing here. No offense Ian but Julia told me you live in a small town in Ireland. What are you doing here?" Caroline asked suspicious.

"You act like Ireland is on the other side of the world. He´s just here to visit some of his family." Julia answered, she didn´t want to give Caro a reason to be concerned.

"Ok ok. I´m just asking." Caroline answered a little pissed on Julia´s behavior.

"Well, it was nice to meet you two but I think we should go back home. I´m sure mum´s already waiting with the dinner." Anna reminded the other two women and Caroline and Julia nodded in response.

"It was nice to see you again Ian." Julia said and hugged Ian.

"Same here. If you need something give me a call. You still have my number?" Ian asked and as Julia nodded he and his girlfriend left the three women.

Julia watched them disappear and followed the other two back to their car. Maybe the soldiers already were after Ian´s brothers. Julia just hoped they wouldn´t get into too much trouble. She didn´t want to start a war against a whole criminal institution.

* * *

Soon after the three women had arrived at Anna´s house, they recognized that something was going on. As they had entered the house they saw Ozone and Worm discuss about a serious topic and Scarecrow sat in front of a laptop and checked something, whilst he was talking to someone on the phone. Curios the women shared a look and stepped up to Ozone and Worm, who immediately shut up as they saw the women approaching them.

"What´s going on here?" Caroline asked concerned and took a look on the map the two soldiers were studying. Ozone shot Worm a look, that said he should explain what they were doing, but Worm just shook his head, as he realized what his teammate wanted him to do.

"Hey, talk to me!" Caroline raised her voice in anger, why were they acting so stiff? She was sure that something bad was going on here and felt nervous, ´cause she was sure Toad wasn´t here.

Ozone and Worm shared another look but both didn´t seem to be happy to tell the girls that they had lost their Captain and his team. They didn´t want to admit that they didn´t had the slightest clue where they were. The only thing they knew for sure was that the mission went totally wrong; they had tried to call every single member of the team, which did the observation, but couldn´t get them into line. Burdened with guilt Ozone tried to find the right words but all that came to his mind seemed like a lame excuse. He let out a sigh and looked down ashamed.

"The Captain and the others are on a mission to observe a terror group." He began and kept his eyes down, he couldn´t look at her right now.

"That´s good, isn´t it? Why are you so sad then?" Caroline asked puzzled; why did they avoid to look at her?

"Look Caro…The mission didn´t went as we expected it would. The others probably got into trouble." Ozone continued, know with enough strength to look up at her and show her a weak, afflicted smile.

"What? So you tell me they are in danger?" Caroline asked in shock.

"We don´t know for sure." Worm added and earned an angry stare from Caroline.

"You don´t know? How couldn´t you? Weren´t you watching them? Didn´t you give them any form of back up? Why are you still here? You should go and check to place where they were." Caroline yelled in anger; she was scared; scared to lose her boyfriend.

"We had our orders to stay out of business. The Captain didn´t want to cause too much attention, he said he needed no back up." Ozone tried to calm her down with his explanation but Caro´s anger only rose.

"That´s stupid. If something happens to Chris it is the entire fault of your Captain." Caroline cried out and stormed out of the room.

"Caro! Wait!" Anna shouted and ran after her, to calm her down. Anna knew how she felt, Roach was on that mission too. Anna had the same fears as Caroline but she kept quiet. She didn´t want to interrupt the soldiers in their work and make them feel guilty for just doing their job.

"What are you up to?" Julia asked and took a seat next to Ozone, who stared at the door, Caroline and Anna had left the room. The soldier could understand the reason for Caro´s breakout but he was shocked that she blamed them that the mission went wrong.

"Hey, Sebastian. I´m talking to you!" Ozone snapped out of his stare, as he heard Julia use his first name. He shook his head and looked at her. Julia had her eye brows raised and waited for Ozone to answer her.

"We try to find out if the group has any secret hideout nearby the location the team was but we can´t find anything. I´m sure they brought them away from there." Ozone said disappointed and looked at the map, which was laying on the table in front of him.

"I see. Have you checked the place where they observed them? Maybe you´ll find some eyewitnesses." Julia asked and turned her attention to the map too.

"No, we weren´t there yet. Scarecrow is talking to Ghost right now and the General told us to wait for his instructions and we wanted to wait till you come back. We thought you wanted to know what´s going on." Worm said and smiled weakly; he knew that the women would have gotten even angrier, if they had just left the house without making the situation clear.

Julia nodded to him and turned her gaze towards Scarecrow, who seemed to go through possible hideouts with Ghost. She stood up from her spot and went upstairs, to go to her room. She knew she needed to call Ian and ask him if he could help her to find out, where his brothers could have brought them to. She didn´t like the idea of bringing Ian into danger, but he was her only chance. She also wondered why Mac told them to wait before they go to the place. It was unusual for the General, to give the orders to wait, if there was only the slightest chance that soldiers were in danger and she wondered why he acted like this. Sure she knew that he was concerned that Price would find out about Gisela and him but the situation hadn´t anything to do with his personal problems. The behavior of her General made her wonder if he kept a secret. Pushing her thoughts away she dialed Ian´s number, he needed to tell her what he knew.

* * *

"Price! What are you doing?" Derek asked the Captain as the whole team met on a car park, far away from their hideout. He watched his Superior divest his whole weaponry.

"They want me!" Price shortly answered him and continued in his doing.

"What makes you think this?" Meat joined the conversation, confused on how weird his Captain acted.

"Natasha said it. Her last statement was we all have to pay a Price. They want me." The Captain told them, as if it was the most normal in the world.

"Don´t make a fool out of yourself. This woman is crazy, she only wants to catch you off-guard." Michael replied in disbelief. Did the Captain really believe they wanted him? To Michael it was just a statement to unsettle the old man.

"No, the way she pointed the word Price out made it clear to me." Price just said serious.

"So you think if you sacrifice yourself they will let the girls go? That´s simply ridiculous." Michael yelled in frustration and rolled his eyes. Sure, he wanted to save the women too, but he couldn´t approve Price´s plan. This was suicide.

"It´s the only chance I see, I won´t let them torture them or kill them just because they want me. I don´t care if you agree with me. I made my decision." Price stated; he was ready to go.

He took a look around only to see that every soldier seemed to be unhappy with his plan. Meat and Royce looked away from him, Paul and Daniel just shook their heads and Michael looked at him as if he had lost his mind. The last one Price looked at was Archer and he could tell that the sniper was fighting with himself. He had knitted his eye brows and played nervous with his fingers. Price also noticed that Archer bit his lower lip in deep thoughts. Price took a deep breath and stepped up to his teammate. He laid a hand on his shoulder and told him it would be okay if he wouldn´t take part in his plan. Archer just watched as his Captain walked back to one of their cars and turned his comms on.

"Natasha?" The Captain asked in a rough voice.

"Nice to hear you again Captain. What do you want from me?" She answered and Price heard her chuckle lightly, but right now he didn´t care what game she was playing, all he wanted to do was to save the two women.

"We have a deal!" He answered her coldly and waited for her to response. The comms went silent for a few seconds, before he heard her laugh and she answered him.

"Good to hear. Not far away from the town is an old aerodrome. Meet us there in half an hour and don´t try to play a trick on us. Otherwise one of the girls is going to die." Natasha answered amused.

"You let them free right?" Price asked hopeful but as an answer the comms just went silent again. Natasha had cut the connection.

Full of anger Price mumbled some curses and opened the driver door of the car. He was ready to go there and deal with them. He didn´t care that he was all on his own; maybe it was for the best. He couldn´t need the others there, if they didn´t approve his plan. He was about to climb into the driver´s seat as a hand was laid on his shoulder. Snorting Price turned around, keeping a straight face. He looked in the pair of blue eyes in front of him and couldn´t stop himself from thinking about Soap. The eyes in front of him reminded him a lot of his friend; they had the same color and the same sparkle of volition in them.

"I´m coming with you." Michael told the Captain as he faced him. He couldn´t allow himself to let the older man go and didn´t do anything to support him. Price nodded to him and settled down on the driver´s seat, followed by Michael, who sat next to him. Price started the engine as the back doors got opened and Meat, Royce and Archer took a seat. Price looked into the rear mirror and nodded to his teammates.

"We´re coming right after you." Price heard Derek speak over his comms, turned his head to the right and saw that Derek, Paul and Daniel had boarded the other car and were ready to go.

"Good." Price shortly said with a smile and the car slowly started to move.

"I´m gonna give Ghost a call to inform him about our plan." Archer pointed out as he dialed his Lieutenants number.

* * *

Ghost and Angela were sitting in the mess hall and ate their dinner, as Ghost´s cell phone began to ring. Curious, who called him Ghost pulled it out of his pocket and was surprised to see the caller was Archer. Puzzled he stared at the screen for a sec before he answered the call. At first Ghost talked in a calm voice to him but as the call went on, Angela could feel the Lieutenant tense up. Wondering what they were talking about she got closer to Ghost and tapped him on the arm, to sign him he should turn the speakers on. Ghost shot her a quick glance and did what she wanted. Now Angela could hear Archer´s voice clearly.

"Ghost? You´re still there?" Archer asked as he hadn´t got any response from his teammate, to his last statement.

"Yes Archer. I just put the speakers on." Ghost explained him and smiled weakly at Angela.

"Oh…okay. Is the General near you?" Archer asked in a low voice.

"No, he isn´t here. Why do you ask?"

"I think he´s not satisfied with our plan." Archer replied concerned.

"What plan?" Angela asked, they didn´t get any orders from their General. Sure they knew that Chrissy and Mandy got captured but the General gave them the order to wait for Natasha to call them again and tell them what she wanted. Equally to that the General had told them to not tell the groups that both observations went wrong and that some of them got captured.

"Natasha wants me." They heard Price join the conversation.

"You? Why?" Angela asked surprised and heard the Captain sigh deeply.

"I told you she wanted an offer from me and that her last words were that we all have a Price to pay. I´m absolutely sure Makarov wants me." Price continued.

"And you give in? What if this all is a trap?" Ghost raised his voice in disbelief.

"I don´t care. It´s our only chance to save the girls." Price told them and Ghost shook his head.

"Price! That´s ridiculous. You should wait for the General´s instructions. You put yourself and the whole team in danger." Angela screamed into the phone but Price just chuckled.

"They all decided to come with me, if you have to tell the General about this, feel free to. It´s already too late to stop me….." Angela wanted to reply at the Captain´s words, put suddenly the line went dead.

In horror Angela looked at Ghost, who tried to call Archer back, he wasn´t satisfied with this plan either. Was the Captain out of his mind? He was about to risk the lives of his whole team, that wasn´t like him. In anger Ghost throw his phone down to the floor, Archer didn´t answer his call.

"What are we going to do now?" Angela asked nervous and shot up from her spot.

"I don´t know. We can´t stop them." Ghost shortly answered, stood up from his spot and laid his hands on Angela´s shoulders, to stop her from walking up and down nervous.

"There must be something we could do Ghost. The missions already went wrong. We can´t risk to lose Price. What if they´re going to kill him and the others?" Angela asked him sad, she didn´t want to think about this.

"I don´t know. Damn, this is fucking annoying." Ghost said and shook his head.

"Why does Price think they want him? Okay, it might have been easy for them to find out they were watched and maybe they were able to track our team or bug them but they couldn´t be sure that Price is in Russia. Makarov surely had known that we would split up and send a group to the UK and one to Russia but he couldn´t know that Price would be a part of the Russian team." Angela tried to explain to Ghost how wrong the Captain must have been.

"Yes, you…" Ghost wanted to affirm her statement as a misgiving came to his mind. Could this be? He knew Price for years, would the Captain risk the life of his teammates? No, definitely not. Price only did this ´cause he was sure that Makarov wanted him. There could be only one chance how Makarov could be sure that Price was in Russia. There was just one person, who could assert that Price would be there.

* * *

Without thinking Ghost stormed out of the mess hall, hearing Angela yell after him but right now he didn´t give a shit. Anger had taken the better part of him. He cursed; he had a bad feeling since they were in this base. Why hadn´t he listened to that feeling? If something would go wrong now, he would blame himself the rest of his life. On his way he felt that Angela was coming after him but right now he didn´t care that she was here. He knew that his actions could show her his bad side, the side he only let out in battles, the side that helped him to get the information he wanted.

With a loud bang he crushed through the door and fast approached the General, who was talking on the phone to someone. Ghost could hear his superior yell at him what he was doing here but Ghost was too angry to give a fuck about it. In a fast move he punched the General straight in his face, making his phone crush to the floor. The General stumbled back in surprise, feeling the pain of the hard punch on the left side of his face. The General tried to raise his hands, to protect his face from any more harm, as Ghost grabbed him by the collar of his uniform and pushed him onto the wall.

"Wha…." The General tried to speak but was cut off by Ghost´s hands, which he had laid around the General´s neck and squeezed his throat, making the General gasp for air. Mac hardly could keep his eyes open, the pain on his throat was simply too much. In fear he tried to push Ghost away from him, but the Lieutenant Didn´t move an inch, he only squeezed tighter.

As Angela entered her General´s office she saw Ghost standing in front of Mac, strangle him. Terrified to see the Lieutenant in such a violent way she needed some time to act. Angela´s whole body tensed as she stepped next to Ghost and yelled at him to let the General go; but to Angela´s disappointment Ghost didn´t react. Angela looked into Ghost´s eyes and all she could see was pure hate. Frantically she kept on yelling at him and tried to push Ghost away from the General, but the man didn´t move. Getting desperate Angela saw no other chance then to slap Ghost into his face. With a shaking hand she slapped Ghost on his cheek, only to get a slap back.

Recognizing what he did, Ghost looked at Angela with wide eyes. She stood in front of him, holding her cheek and trying to hold the tears back which formed in her eyes. Shocked he reached out to her but as he was about to touch her she stepped back and shook her head.

"Angela! I´m sorry. I didn´t want to do this." Ghost apologized pitiful.

"What´s wrong with you? Why did you attack the General?" Angela didn´t response to his apology, she was more interested what made Ghost so furious.

"He betrayed us." Ghost shortly answered her and glanced back at his General, anger rising up in him again.

"He send Price to Russia. He was the only one who could make sure that Price was there and not in the UK. He works for Makarov." Ghost continued staring at Mac.

"What? Is this true? Did you betray us?" Angela now asked and looked shocked from one man to another.

The General still affected breathed heavily and kept his eyes on the floor. "Yes, I did."


	42. Wrong Turn

Soap studied every move of his enemies and recognized that they were pretty insecure what they should do now. They chatted around nervous and exchanged quick looks with each other as one of his teammates spoke. He also noticed that they jumped every time one of his men asked them what they wanted to do with them. Referring to his experiences he gained in the military he was pretty sure that this was the first hostage the brothers achieved. He wondered why they even did this. Did Makarov have really such much power, to manipulate persons that easily? How did they even know they got observed? Did they have a spy on their team? Was one of the soldiers working for Makarov? Who could it be?

Soap turned his gaze to every single one of his team and tried to figure out, who could have betrayed them. He doubted that it was a member of the 141 and so only a member of Mac´s force would fit in the position of a double agent. He eyed Jason and Lieutenant Smith, would they betray them? He didn´t know very much of the lives of the two men, but would they work for Makarov? Could it be that they contacted Makarov and tell him about their plan? Probably not; both didn´t seem like bad persons. Sure, the Lieutenant was a rough guy with a pretty strong authority but Soap was sure that he wouldn´t put his family in danger. He wouldn´t do something that could hurt Caroline, he was over protective, Soap could tell it from the stares he shot Meat, back at base, as he joked about Caroline´s and Toad´s relationship, but that only showed to Soap, that the older man just cared about his daughter. He glanced back at Jason, the young man tried to free his hands from the chair, he was bonded. Soap allowed himself to smirk, he doubted that Jason was a spy. Somehow he acted pretty much like Roach, he wasn´t sleeky enough to betray his friends. Caroline and Julia wouldn´t betray them neither and he was pretty sure that Michael wouldn´t do this. That left Angela and the General.

Soap didn´t have spent much time with Angela but he couldn´t think of her as a spy; after all she gave them information about Makarov, as Mac told her she shouldn´t share them with the 141. So this must mean that their General was the one who told Makarov about their observation and that he should inform the brothers about it. There was still a slight chance that Makarov extorted the General with something, to bring him on his side. They had seen what the man could do with his power; he engaged a terror group in Europe to destroy their base. Soap feared that Vitaly was more powerful than Vladimir ever was. With this thought in his mind he know they had to get out of here as quick as they could.

He checked the hall they were brought to; it was an old repair shop in the middle of nowhere. He still could smell the aroma of gasoline and right in front of him was an old auto-lift, which seemed to still work. The windows were really small and from the outside you couldn´t look into them without climbing on a ladder. On the right wall was a little iron door, that led to a small room, which Soap assumed had to be the rest room once. Behind him was a huge white sliding gate, once used to bring the cars in here. He looked up to the ceiling and saw holes in some places, which let the snow fall into the hall. As he watched the snowflakes making their way to the ground, he realized how cold it was in here and at the same time he wondered when it had start to snow again. Hours before, as they were sitting outside of the café, the sun was shining and there was no sign that it would snow any time soon.

Soap´s attention suddenly got caught from a clanking noise and he turned his head into the direction it came from. With a weak smile he watched one of their kidnappers trip over an iron rod; the man cursed loudly and kicked at it once more full of anger. The result was that after his foot had touched the rod, he led out a quiet cry and reached down to his toes, to touch them and check if they were okay. Soap shook his head and chuckled, somehow his kidnappers acted really odd. He once more doubted that they knew what they were doing.

The man, hearing Soap´s chuckle, shot him an angry look and stepped up to the Captain. He stopped only a few inches away from Soap and eyed him, before he let out a low growl and crouched down, to bring himself on the Captain´s eye-level. He tilted his head a few times from one side to the other and tried to figure out what the Captain was thinking. Did this man really believe this was funny? He wasn´t in the position to make fun of him and his brothers. He should better fear for his life and the lives of his teammates. This wasn´t a joke; they had a really serious job to do. Soon the smile on the Captain´s face would disappear, the man was sure about that. They only had to wait till they got a call from their employer and the man knew this would happen soon. Amused he smiled mischievous at the Captain, stood up again and turned around. He needed to check what his brothers were doing.

* * *

"This is it?" Worm asked as the group has arrived at their destination. He looked at the young Irish man, who had come with them and as he nodded Worm turned his attention back to the building.

"Well, they must be pretty stupid if they hide here. The place is too easy to find." He continued and leaned himself against the car, they had arrived with.

"That´s why we have to be careful in our doing. Maybe this is just a trap." Ozone replied to his teammate and stared at the building.

"I know. You sure you want to do this?" Worm answered and looked back at Ian, who nodded in response.

"It´s our only chance to find out what they are doing in there." The blond man said and put the earpiece in.

"Well, it´s your decision but don´t try to put anyone in danger and remember to inform us if you see something that looks like a trap. I don´t want to go in there to save your sorry ass and get myself killed." Worm smiled weakly after his statement.

"I know. Don´t worry. I can take care of myself." Ian answered, took a deep breath and began to walk towards his brother´s hideout.

"And you´re absolutely sure that we can trust him?" Worm now turned his attention towards Julia, who stood next to him.

"Yes, I am." She simply replied and watched Ian getting closer to the old garage.

"Fine. Let´s just hope he doesn´t fuck this up. I don´t want to explain it to the Captain, if your friend betrays us." Worm shook his head slightly at the thought of the Captain´s wrath.

"It would be my pleasure to tell the Captain why we needed Ian´s help. I´m sure he won´t be mad at me if I tell him that you were too scared to ignore orders and work on finding them." Julia answered amused, as she saw how Worm´s arrogant smile faded away and his expression showed true terror. She was absolutely sure that Ian wouldn´t betray them; he was a really loyal person and he was always honest to her.

"Something's wrong?" Julia asked Worm still amused about his shocked expression. The Soldier glanced at her, shook his head and walked away from the car, to talk to Scarecrow and Ozone about their next steps.

Julia bristled and turned her attention to Anna and Caroline, who were standing a few steps away and talked to each other. Julia heard them talk about their boyfriends and that they hoped that they were alright. Sighing Julia closed her eyes shortly, before she took a look at the old repair shop. From the outside she couldn´t see what was going on in there. A nervous feeling filled her; Ian was out of sight, he must have entered the building already. Wondering if he was alright she turned her gaze to the other three soldiers, who listened to the conversation, Ian had with his brothers.

* * *

As quiet as possible Ian opened the side-door to the old building, stuck his head carefully in it and looked around. Relieved he whispered into his comms and told the others that the doorway was clear and after Worm had confirmed he had heard him, Ian stepped into the small room and let the door slip close. He sneaked through the small room, taking a look around. He saw some used paint buckets positioned on the walls and posters from old cars hanging on the walls. In one corner he saw a blue barrow, which seemed to be unused for a long time, judging from the thick film of dust that had covered it. Ian turned his gaze back to the door in front of him, luckily for him in the door was a little window, through which he could take a look into the next room. Silently he pressed himself onto the door and leered through the window. First he didn´t see anything specific but as he turned his head a little, to check the rest of the room, his heart skipped a beat. On the wall, next to the door, was his own father, tied to a chair. Ian couldn´t trust his eyes at first, did his brothers really capture their own father? He never thought they would do something to him. He never imagined they could be so cruel.

Taking a deep breath he opened the door in front of him and sneaked into the room. He looked at his father and recognized that the old man was unconscious, Ian swallowed hard and sneaked up to the man, shaking his shoulder lightly to wake him up. As his dad didn´t react to his action he shook him once more, now with more power, making the man groan and slowly open his eyes. With a finger over his mouth Ian signed him to keep quiet, whilst he untied him from the metal chair. Quick and precise he freed his dad from the chair and helped him stand up. A few seconds passed before Ian whispered to his father why he was here and as the older man nodded both made their way to the next door. Taking a quick look through the window in it, Ian saw one of his brothers in the huge hall, sitting on a chair and looking to the other side of the room. Ian followed his brother's stare and saw the members of MacTavish´s team, tied to chairs, like his father was.

Ian wondered where his other brothers were, as he heard a noise behind him. Scared he turned around quickly and saw his brothers coming inside the room he was and his father were in. Ian cursed, he hadn´t seen that there was another door, that led into this room, he was too busy to take care of his father. First his brothers' didn´t recognize him, they were talking about something Ian couldn´t define, but as his oldest brother recognized him, he showed an amused smile and slapped his brother on the shoulder, to stop him from talking and turn his attention towards Ian. The other man showed the same amused smile as both approached their brother and dad, grabbed them by their arms and tracked them into the hall, without saying a word.

* * *

"Look who has come to visit us!" Gerard, his oldest brother said cheerfully, as he dragged Ian in front of his third brother, who shot up from his chair and stared at Ian.

"Isn´t it lovely that he shows up already?" Gerard continued and his brothers began to laugh out loud. Confused Ian looked from one man to another; they acted like they knew he would come.

"What´s wrong Ian? Did you really think we wouldn´t know that you would show up here?" Patrick, the brother who dragged his father into the room asked still smiling. Ian wanted to answer but he couldn´t make a sound. This was definitely not what they had planned. Worm´s plan was to send Ian in there and detract his brothers, till he gave them the sign that the building was clear and they could storm in. How could they know about that?

"Oh, don´t be shy little bro. Ask us something." Charlie, the third brother now said and stepped up to Ian, to lay his hands on his shoulders.

"How could you know…." Ian began but was cut off by his brother, who began to laugh.

"That you would come? Come on Ian. Do you think Makarov didn´t know that you know her? Did you think him didn´t spy on them? You have so much more to learn." Charlie said and shook his head playfully.

Ian wanted to response something, anything to show his brothers that he wasn´t scared of them, but he failed badly. He just stood there and lowered his head in defeat; this couldn´t be true. What was he going to do now? He knew that Worm and the others could her the conversation, but would they storm in? Fear grew up in Ian, what if his brothers planned to kill him and all of the others. What if the last thing he would see were the laughing faces of his stupid brothers? Would he give up without a fight? No, he wouldn´t. If there was one good thing he learned from his father, then it was to fight for your life, no matter what it would cost. Feeling a little stronger Ian glanced to his father and as their eyes met, he could tell that his father was thinking the same. Old Mr. O'Kelly wouldn´t lose his life in an old repair-shop, killed by his own sons. He would put up a fight and he wouldn´t mind to kill one of his own children. Taking a deep breath Ian was strong enough to turn his gaze back to his brother and shoot him a killing glance.

* * *

Ian was ready to start this fight, he was ready to fight for himself and all the others that were in the room with him. Ian clenched his fists and started to count. If he would have counted to ten, he would beat the crap out of his brother. With every number he had counted down, his anger grew and he was sure to show his brother that he wasn´t as weak as he thought. Charlie always made fun of Ian, always told him he wasn´t good enough for their family. Always showed him how disgust he was of his twin brother. Charlie now would see how strong Ian was, if someone tries to harm him or the people he cared about. Ian had counted to nine and was ready to start the fight, as suddenly Gerard's cell phone began to ring and Charlie released Ian´s shoulders, to look excited at his brother.

With a smile Gerard answer the call; said a few words and hung up again. Ian wondered to whom he was talking; was it Makarov? Did he gave them the order to kill them now? Even now, Ian realized how stupid his plan to beat his brother up was. They had guns and he had nothing more than just his bare hands. He wouldn´t have a chance against them, no matter how hard he would try. The fear he wanted to push aside, grew up in him again and all Ian could do was to close his eyes and wait for his brother to kill him already. He breathed heavily as he heard Worm´s voice over his comms, that they would come in every second and silently Ian wished that they just would leave him and the others here and save their own lives. Concentrated on the words Worm spoke, Ian didn't open his eyes as a hand was laid on his shoulder. He didn´t wanted to open them, he didn´t wanted to see his brothers arrogant grins, he didn´t want to see how his father was going to try and fight for his life.

Ian kept his eyes closed and didn´t move as he heard the door crack open with a loud bang and Worm´s voice, which shouted to them to give up. Ian stood there paralyzed and waited for shots to ring in his ears and dead bodies slamming to the ground but there were none. He heard Worm´s voice again, heard cries from Caroline and Anna, who must have come in here, to check on their boyfriends, heard Scarecrow passing him and untying his teammates from the chairs, but he hadn´t heard shots. Was he that much caught in his own thoughts that he didn´t hear how his brothers got killed?

Unsure what was going on he slowly opened his eyes and saw his brothers kneel on the floor with their hands raised up in the air and Worm and Ozone, who put them handcuffs on. Ian knitted his eyebrows; why had they given up so easily? Why didn´t they kill him? Why didn´t they at least try to escape? Ian shook his head and looked down to Gerard, who just shrugged his shoulders and smiled at him. Something definitely was wrong here. Ian wanted to ask him why they kidnapped the team and then let themselves get arrested without any resistance. Why they didn´t have killed him and the others? He was about to open his mouth as someone stepped up to him from behind and punched his brother in the face. Ian turned his head a little and saw a tall man standing next to him with an angry expression on his face.

"What´s going on here? Why did you capture us?" The man yelled at Gerard but the Irish just smiled at him, whilst blood was running down his face.

"You´ll soon understand Captain." Gerard answered amused and Soap was about to punch him again, as his cell phone began to ring. Soap put it out of his pocket and looked at it confused, Archer was calling him.

"You better answer the call." Gerard added still amused and after Soap had shot him one more killing glance he walked away from the scene, to talk to his teammate.

"You okay?" Ian turned around and faced Julia, who looked at him concerned.

"Yes, I´m fine don´t worry." Ian answered with a little smile.

Julia returned the smile and wanted to ask something as the Captain´s voice rang through the whole hall, making everyone in it look at him.

"What? So you´re telling me they have Price?" MacTavish got furious, Archer had told him that they made an exchange with Natasha, one of the girls against Price. Soap wanted to let all his anger out and yell at Archer how stupid it was as he heard a shot on the other side of the line. Frantically he yelled into the phone and wanted to know what had happened as he heard Archer´s voice again, now clearly shocked.

Soap´s eyes grew wide as the sniper told him with a shaking voice what just had happened.

"What? They killed her?"


End file.
